For more animal welfare

New guide: “Keep an eye out when buying milk!”

Animal-friendly milk - is that even possible?

(Bild: APA (dpa))

A new guide from the Animal Welfare Ombudsman's Office in Vienna shows how cows live in Austria. 35 of the common quality labels and brand programs in the dairy sector in Austria have been checked for their animal welfare requirements - with mixed results!

Per capita, 77 liters of milk are consumed annually and a further 37 kilograms in the form of cheese, cream, butter and other dairy products.

The Animal Welfare Ombudsman's Office Vienna (TOW) has taken a look: For the shopping guide "Augen auf beim Milcheinkauf", the common Austrian quality seals as well as brand programs with special animal welfare criteria were critically examined.

The analysis
In advertising, we are often presented with images of cows on lush alpine meadows. Unfortunately, however, this image does not always correspond to the reality on the farms.

TOW has analyzed 35 quality seals and brand programs with regard to their animal welfare requirements, including AMA, Bio Austria, Fair zum Tier and "Ja! Natürlich". The guide explains all minimum and organic standards in cattle farming in detail. The assessment was carried out in six levels (0-6). The following criteria were considered for the classification:

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

• Mandatory loose housing
• Daily access to outdoor areas
• Mandatory access to pasture
• What about dehorning?
• Species-appropriate feeding
• Animal-friendly breeding goals for a move away from the high-yielding cow

"The legal requirements for animal husbandry only represent minimum standards, but by no means animal welfare. They are not enough for dairy cows to live as species-appropriate a life as possible," explains Eva Persy, Head of the Animal Welfare Ombudsman's Office in Vienna. 

The "Krone" animal corner is doing everything in its power to ensure that permanent tethering no longer exists in Austria. This is a matter close to my heart!

Maggie Entenfellner, Ressortleitung „Krone“-Tierecke

Bild: krone.tv

Results may surprise some
The results of the analysis may surprise some consumers. After all, not all quality seals and brand programs reflect the increased desire for greater animal welfare.

"It is frustrating that the standard version of the best-known seal of approval in Austria does not show any improvements for the animals. Due to the enormous spread of the program, any small improvement would lead to more animal welfare for thousands of animals," says Persy.

For example, the AMA seal of approval received 0 out of 6 points, only "Ja! Natürlich" achieved all six, with regulations that go beyond the minimum organic standard.

You can see all those that met two thirds of all criteria in our chart.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Tierschutzombudsstelle Wien (TOW))

What can you do to support animal-friendly dairy cow husbandry?

• Take a stand against torturous husbandry conditions
• When buying dairy products, find out about the farming conditions and choose products that pay attention to animal welfare
• Instead, give preference to products that have been produced in an animal-friendly and/or organic way
• Try to limit your milk consumption
• Buy more plant-based alternatives such as oat or rice milk or products made from them. There is now a large selection of plant-based "milk", "yogurt" or "cheese".
• In restaurants and cafés, also ask about the origin of the milk used or about plant-based alternatives. Many restaurants, for example, offer plant-based milk instead of coffee cream - or would be willing to include it in their menu if there is sufficient demand.

The shopping guide provides consumers with a practical tool to make conscious purchasing decisions for greater animal welfare. However, the greatest leverage for better animal husbandry clearly lies in stricter legal provisions. 

The complete analysis and description of the individual quality labels and brand programs can be found here.