HARRISBURG, Pa. — It’s the 60th All-American Dairy Show, and organizers are expecting one of the largest turnouts in more than a decade.
“We’re looking at numbers this year that are the largest numbers for All-American Dairy Show and Premier National Junior Events, it’s the largest numbers we’ve seen in over 10 years so we’re really appreciative to that,” said treasurer and board member, Nate Oleniacz.
But not everyone is enthusiastic.
A handful of people from animal-rights groups held a protest outside the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex on Sunday.
Karen Mazich with Central Pennsylvania Animal Action argues the event glorifies problems within the dairy industry.
“To us, the dairy show celebrating cows is just horrendous to us, it’s really just a life of torture for those animals and we’re just out here trying to educate people about what happens,” Mazich said.
CPAA is a grassroots group of activists that encourage veganism and equal animal rights.
Mazich alleges dairy cows are treated inhumanely, regardless of their living conditions.
“Whether it’s a large industrial farm or small dairy farm, there’s still that cruelty involved,” Mazich said.
But dairy show competitor Jillian Malott says the event is an educational tool.
“Us being here is just showing everybody how big it is and how wonderful, and I have learned a lot, I am the person I am because of it,” Malott said.
Malott has traveled from her home in Maryland for almost five years.
“We want them to fully understand the facts of our way of living as well as how they live and we still consider everybody’s opinion widely and evenly across the board, but we view this as education and we will certainly listen to everybody’s opinion, we just ask the same in respect to them,” Oleniacz said.
But Mazich is unconvinced.
“Things we hear all the time from farmers is ‘we love our cows,’ well if you love your cow so much that you’re impregnating them, you’re taking their baby away when they are no longer producing milk, most of them are sent off to slaughter, so at the end of the day i don’t think that is really love,” Mazich said.
The dairy show continues through Monday.