A Place To Call Home actress breastfeeds naked in PETA’s latest campaign
A PLACE To Call Home star Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood has leapt into the world of animal rights activism by stripping off for PETA’s latest campaign.
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TELEVISION star Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood has stripped bare with her baby daughter to milk the spotlight in a confronting campaign for animal welfare organisation PETA.
Parkes-Lockwood who plays Olivia Bligh in Foxtel series A Place to Call Home is pictured naked and breastfeeding her baby daughter Serafina in the new campaign which calls for an end to the slaughtering of bull calves in the dairy industry.
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“Taking my clothes off felt like the least I could do,” Parkes-Lockwood, who has been a vegan for six years told The Daily Telegraph. “PETA knows how to get attention and the one thing these animals need is our attention. It is shameless publicity seeking and that’s wonderful in a way so it can start conversations.
The 31-year-old says she approached PETA to take part in the campaign which is being launched today to coincide with World Breastfeeding Week.
“The suffering that we put these cows through is so great that it justifies putting myself in a storm if that happens, because the suffering I will endure is much less than what they’re enduring and I feel passionately about the changing the way we eat.”
An Australian Dairy Farmers Association spokesman hit back at the ad, saying that keeping calves with their mothers for extended periods creates serious problems and places the health and welfare of both the cow and her calf at risk.
“Farmers strive to provide the best care for all their animals so they separate milking cows from their calves as early as possible,” the spokesman said. “This practice is less stressful on both the mother and the calf because maternal bonding grows stronger with time.
“The figure cited by PETA that 450,000 calves are killed per year in Australia for milk production is greatly exaggerated. The latest data collected by Dairy Australia shows the number of bobby calves slaughtered is declining from 300,000.
“Looking after cows is the single biggest priority for dairy farmers because healthy, happy cows produce top quality milk.”
Terry Toohey, a dairy farmer from Casino and chair of animal welfare issues for Dairy Connect, said that advances in reproductive technology are helping to minimise the number of bull calves who are killed.
“A lot of farmers are now using sexed semen which drops that number down quite considerably because there won’t be as many bull calves,” Mr Toohey said. “The dairy industry by promoting sexed semen is moving towards down the track there may not be very many bull calves born as the technology advances which will mean we will see that number naturally decrease which will be a positive thing for everybody.”
Mr Toohey says the bull calves are killed because they are bred for milk, not for meat and the consumer doesn’t want light veal on the shelves.
He adds campaigns like this put “fear into the next generation” and the livelihood of farmers at risk.
“Young children who see that and aren’t aware are very easily led and they respect these advocacy groups, actors and popular people as being a great role model,” he said. “So I have to ask if they really know what they’re emphasising here. They’re teaching children not to eat meat and drink dairy which is not a great thing. Everyone has to have protein, how are you going to get that?”
The NSW Ministry of Health says cow’s milk provides adults and children over 12 months with calcium, protein and energy and is a good source of vitamins and minerals including vitamin A, zinc and riboflavin and may be fortified with vitamin D.
They further add that “growing children require protein and cow’s milk is a good source of protein, non-dairy drinks are not.
“Children who are having these drinks instead of cow’s milk would need to have extra protein rich foods in their diet to meet their protein requirements.”