People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has called on the United Nations to rename World Milk Day, which is celebrated annually on June 1 to promote milk and the dairy industry.
In a formal letter to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the animal rights group proposed a new name: World Bovine Mammary Secretion Day.
PETA: World Milk Day should be called World Bovine Mammary Secretion Day
PETA argues that the term “milk” sugarcoats the reality of dairy production. Elisa Allen, PETA’s Vice President of Programmes, wrote that the current name makes milk seem “harmless and friendly.”
Instead, the organisation wants to emphasise that milk is a bodily secretion produced by cows, specifically for their calves, not for human consumption.
“We’d like to propose a rebrand… to make clear what the white stuff from a cow really is,” Allen wrote in the letter. “Cows don’t make milk because they’re cows, but because they are mothers. Milk is meant for baby cows and bulls not for humans.”
The group also criticised the dairy industry for practices it says involve cruelty to animals. PETA claims that calves are routinely separated from their mothers so that milk can be harvested and sold, causing emotional distress to both mother and offspring.
“Cows’ secretions aren’t meant for humans any more than those of dogs or cockroaches are,” the letter stated.
Health concerns were also raised. PETA cited that up to 60% of dairy cows suffer from mastitis, a painful udder infection that can lead to pus mixing with milk. According to the group, a single litre of milk can contain as many as 400 million pus cells.
In addition to ethical and health concerns, PETA pointed out the environmental toll of dairy production, including its significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
This isn’t the first time PETA has attracted attention for controversial proposals. Earlier this year, the organisation urged the Cambridge Dictionary to change its definition of the word “rat,” arguing it reinforces negative stereotypes and supports speciesism, the belief that humans are superior to other animals.
As of now, the FAO has not issued a response to PETA’s latest request.