Mother’s Day is just around the corner, making this the perfect time to share the gift of compassion for mothers around the world. This year, consider honoring your mother by helping mothers of all species.
Farmed animals – like all animals – have deep and meaningful relationships with their mothers. For cows, the first few minutes after birth can mark the beginning of a lifelong bond between a mother cow and her calf. Cows carry their young for nine months and they suckle them for nine to twelve months, much like human mothers.
Baby chicks bond so closely with their mothers that scientists call it “imprinting.” Mother hens take their chicks under their wings, providing protection and shelter, and chicks spend their first few weeks learning to scratch for food by watching the techniques of their mothers.
Humans aren’t the only species to learn from and admire their mothers, but we are the only species to deny other animals everything that is natural and important to them. Animal agriculture deprives hens of nesting material and a private space for the intimate act of laying an egg. Pork producers confine mother sows in crates so small they cannot move without scraping against the rails. Dairy cows are robbed of their calves so that their milk can be sold for human consumption.
Fortunately, we all have the power to help mothers confined on factory farms by adopting a kind and compassionate vegan lifestyle. Visit ChooseVeg.com for delicious recipes to honor all mothers this Mother’s Day.
Click here for your free Vegetarian Starter Kit.
