Peta Now Claiming
Milk Is "Racist"

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Bill Clinton may or may not have inhaled, but there’s little doubt that his vice president’s pals are inhaling something. Animal rights activists are now attacking the dairy industry as "racist."

Dairy farming is a $400 million industry in Vermont, and milk is the official state beverage. But making it so, says People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is an act of lactose intolerance.

"Tens of millions" of African-Americans, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans cannot properly absorb milk products into their bloodstream, the group said in a letter to Gov. Howard Dean.

In "study after study," milk has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, some cancers and even osteoporosis, the group claims.

And it says cows are treated cruelly, kept pregnant and painfully separated from their calves.

Millicent Rooney, a dairy farmer's daughter, a milk processor's wife and mother of the manager at Monument Farms in Weybridge, called PETA's arguments "ridiculous. This animal treatment business has gone too far.

"Sure we milk our cows twice a day," she said, "but they're certainly treated humanely."

Her son, Jon Rooney, added: "An unhappy cow is not a good-producing cow."

PETA did not approach Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson with similar complaints, despite that state's larger dairy industry. PETA spokesperson Bruce Friedrich said that was because milk has no official designation in Wisconsin.

The purpose of the Dean letter, Friedrich said, was "to raise awareness that the milk industry is selling people a lie." Attracting attention and raising money from fellow simpletons probably had nothing to do with it.

Kathy Backes, registered dietitian and nutrition education specialist for the New England Dairy and Food Council's Burlington office, said she doesn't like what PETA is touting as a vegetarian alternative to milk.

"Soy milk is not a good source of calcium," she said. "PETA started off as an animal-rights group but has gotten into the health area, where they are not experts."