The invention relates to a device and a method for milking animals, especially dairy cows. The milking unit used contains one or more milk pipelines in which there is a vacuum in relation to the surrounding area so that the animal or the animals can be milked or so that the milk can be drawn off. According to the invention, air is guided into the drawing-off pipeline, through which milk is joined off from a teat of an animal, via at least one air inlet during the milking process. Alternatively or additionally, air from the surrounding area is guided directly into the cavity (18) into which the milk that is collected flows.
