How the dairy industry takes advantage of a live export loophole…

Commercial dairying is cruel enough already, with forced separation and sorrow scarring the life of an Australian dairy cow. The dairy industry takes her calves, often to slaughter them as ‘waste products’. The dairy industry takes her milk and sells it. And for some young cows, the dairy industry even takes away ‘home’…

She’s put on to a truck. The truck drives her to a port, with all its unfamiliar sounds and smells, and she’s loaded onto a huge ship to be sent overseas. She’s exposed to all the risks of live export — while pregnant.

Public outcry about the terrible abuse of Australian animals in overseas slaughterhouses forced reforms on the live export industry (known as ESCAS). But animals exported for breeding or dairy purposes — including cows, sheep, buffalo and goats — are excluded from even these most basic rules and protections.

The Australian dairy industry exports 90,000 Australian dairy cows live each year, for their milk and to build up overseas dairy herds. Most of these sensitive young animals are pregnant during the voyage. Denied even the basic protections that have been extended to animals exported for slaughter, these ‘forgotten animals’ are left utterly exposed to cruelty once they reach the importing country.

And history shows, this can have devastating consequences.

In 2019, more than 500 dairy cows from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand perished after being shipped to Sri Lanka. The suffering of these animals was prolonged and horrific yet the moment they stepped onto foreign soil, they were no longer covered by Australian animal welfare laws.

A 2013 government review stated that extending breeding animals, including dairy cows, even the minimal protection expected for animals exported for slaughter would ‘outweigh the value of the trade’. In other words: a less-cruel trade wouldn’t be profitable.

Tragically, history shows, that whether at sea or in importing countries, live export only makes dairy crueller.

• In 2012, hundreds of Australian dairy cows perished of thirst and malnutrition on a property in Qatar — where thousands of Australian sheep had already died from heat stress and starvation. No one was ever held accountable for their agonising deaths.
• In 2018, shocked locals near a Victorian port were horrified when they witnessed a live export ship swaying dangerously while attempting to sail out to sea. The converted cargo ship was rocking violently with more than 4,000 pregnant dairy cows on board.
• In 2019, a government-backed deal to set up dairy farms in Sri Lanka turned into a human and animal welfare disaster, resulting in hundreds of cows dead and many more emaciated and sick with disease. Local farmers, who were promised nutritional advice and technical support by Australian export company Wellard, reported that they were left struggling to care for their animals — and their own families.
• In 2020, a live export ship carrying nearly 6,000 dairy cows from Aotearoa New Zealand to China sank after sailing into a Typhoon. Tragically, all of the animals and 42 crew members drowned. This disaster was a significant catalyst in the decision by Aotearoa New Zealand to end live exports by sea.

And right now, the world is watching as another unmitigated animal welfare disaster at sea is unfolding. Thousands of dairy cows — many of them pregnant — have been stranded on board the Spiridon II live export vessel for over two months. The ship was blocked from unloading in Türkiye due to an administrative issue.

At least 58 cows have died and 140 have given birth on board the vessel — with 90 newborn calves unaccounted for. The animals, and crew, remain trapped at sea in deteriorating conditions — heat, overcrowding, accumulating waste and excrement, minimal fresh-water and food supplies.

The suffering exposed in these repeated live export disasters is not an exception — it’s an extension of the inherent cruelty built into the dairy industry itself.

The life of a dairy cow is shaped by how much milk she can produce. To meet these demands, she will be repeatedly made pregnant, only to have each calf taken from her so the milk intended for her baby can be sold to humans. Her body will be pushed to its limits, and maternal bonds broken again and again.

For those sent into live export, this suffering is only intensified, through dangerous sea journeys then no protection in importing countries.

Every dairy purchase — or decision not to buy dairy — shapes the future for these gentle animals. By learning how the industry impacts cows and their calves, and by joining the growing number of Australians choosing delicious dairy-free alternatives, we can help end this cycle of cruelty and build a kinder food system.