An animal-rights activist in a cow costume stands at the corner of West Georgia and Granville streets.

A group of animal-rights activists staged a demonstration in downtown Vancouver to highlight complaints about how cows are treated by the dairy industry.
Several demonstrators gathered at the bustling corner of West Georgia and Granville streets for the noon-hour protest today (May 9).
They handed out leaflets to passersby, and one protester who was dressed in a cow costume held a sign.
With Mothers Day coming up, protest organizer Sophie Middleton said the goal was to raise awareness about cruelty toward dairy cows and their offspring.
People dont always realize, they think milk naturally comes from cows at all times, said Middleton, who is with the Vancouver-based group Liberation B.C.
Theyre kept in a constant state of pregnancy, and their babies are taken at birth and they grieve them. They cry and moan, she told the Straight at the protest.
They are milked constantly during their adult lives, and then after a few years when their milk production goes down theyre sent to slaughter.