Cheesy Moves – Don’t dance around the truth!

Today we unveil video number 2 in a series of 5 ‘Cheesy Moves’ clips. Yesterday’s post explains the reasons behind the whole series, so head over to that one if you want some additional background info. Otherwise, point your eyeballs towards this…

Once again, thanks are due to Carolyn for both editing the video and appearing in it as Rap Attack, as well as my brother Andrew for filming.

The wording in the final scene is “Don’t dance around the truth. Investigate the issues. Explore vegan options.” I’m trying to walk the difficult tightrope between encouragement and didacticism. Hopefully the intended humour comes through the video and supports the message in a light-hearted way.

For those who do want to investigate the issues, here is a link to Animals Australia’s page about the ‘bobby calves’ issue.  That page includes two embedded videos that are worth watching to learn about what happens to the unwanted babies of mother cows (who have to give birth in order to begin producing milk). Of course, I use the word “unwanted” only in relation to the industry itself… in general, a calf is not unwanted by the mother!

Because I have had several people over the years dispute the fact that cows do need to give birth for milk production, here is a direct quote from the industry website Dairy Australia.  

“Cows give birth to a calf every year to produce milk. … Animal welfare requirements apply to all calves born on farm… Some of these requirements include:
• Removing all calves from their dams within 12 hours of birth to minimise risk of disease transfer”

Now, tomorrow’s episode is going to be a real corker. So far in this series, you’ve only seen robot dance moves from Rap Attack, but tomorrow I bring out my own personal “cheesy moves”, and they are cringe-worthy to say the least. Still, I’m happy to make a fool of myself if there’s a chance it’s going to draw attention to the plight of dairy cows and bobby calves!