Guess what, folks? Milk is bad for you. And, apparently, it doesn’t do a body good.

Or at least that’s what People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are telling grade school children in the Madison area and soon all across “America’s Dairyland,” as well.

Recently, the FOX News Channel showed the animal-rights group handing out collectible trading cards resembling the “Garbage Pail Kids” cards to kids depicting children with milk-related illnesses. PETA claims that, unbeknownst to us, milk is one of the leading causes of cancer, obesity, excessive mouth phlegm and even osteoporosis. As the grandson of a dairy farmer, the son and brother of milk truck drivers, and, more importantly, one who researched what PETA was saying out of fairness, I can tell you these claims are far-fetched and entirely baseless.

This isn’t the first time the extremist animal-rights group has attacked the milk producers of Wisconsin and the rest of the country. Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Drunk Driving can tell you all about PETA’s “Got Beer?” campaign where the group asked college students to give up milk and substitute it with beer.

Ask New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, who had prostate cancer, about the “Got Prostate Cancer?” billboards that blanketed Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Appleton and Green Bay for three days before PETA took them down for fear of a lawsuit.

So, what is PETA’s beef with the dairy industry? PETA claims that by drinking milk you are making cows suffer because they are caged domesticated animals being treated like milk-producing machines. It also claims that the cow-friendly farm is being killed off by thousand-head dairy farms that are more like milk factories.

But what PETA is saying is far from the truth. Most farmers care deeply about the animals that help give them their lives and spend thousands of dollars on the animal’s health care, often treating them better than the family dog.

These mega-farms aren’t killing the family farm. High taxes and a milk pricing system dating back to the 1930s based on your proximity to Eau Claire are the problem. The farther you are from here, the more money you get per ton of milk. As the money from milking is drying up in Wisconsin, so are the number of family farms. This is commercial Darwinism at its worst.

As for all the medical conditions PETA is talking about, most have no scientific backing. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Institute for Health, the American Cancer Society and the Food and Drug Administration all concur that milk is essential for a healthy diet and lifestyle. PETA’s answer is that the milk industry is powerful. “It’s a billion-dollar industry and they have the power to influence people,” a spokesman said during the FOX News story. Considering that many dairy farmers aren’t seeing those billions of dollars, I highly doubt PETA’s assessment.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the animal-rights movement, but sometimes groups like PETA go too far off the edge. PETA has to realize that a balance must be achieved between the needs of humanity and the lives of the animals that live on Earth.

PETA needs to learn that respect of one’s lifestyle and traditions must come first if we want a better world. It doesn’t come from force-feeding the public some agenda that is backed by lies and misconceptions.