Milk does not kill animals

If you are already vegan this is a pretty obvious one. But some years ago I never even thought about how the milk gets into the supermarket despite the fact that we get it from cows. A cow like any other animal only gives milk after birth. But it would not be financially worth to wait until a cow gets naturally pregnant and gives birth to her baby. And what should you do with the baby cow which drinks all the milk the farmer wants to sell (and we want to drink)? We have to take the baby away from her as soon as possible. Why would we let it drink the milk from its own mother if it is meant for us? (Sarcasm…) Just to clarify this:

We impregnate the cow (against her will) as soon as possible and as often as it is worthy. When the cow gives birth to its baby we take the baby away from its mother and feed him only a little milk and to still let it grow fast some concentrated feed. But if the baby cow happens to be a boy we sell him to the slaughterhouse as males won’t produce milk. Some female baby cows are expecting the same fate because we can’t raise all the baby cows to mature milk-producing cows. So we can sell veal (baby cow flesh). The mother cow will be impregnated some month later again and the whole cycle continues. After some years the mother cow is leached out and won’t produce as much milk as she did before. Because we have younger milk cows (some of her previous babies) we also send her to the slaughterhouse to make as much profit out of her as possible.

I know there are better and worse farmers and there are a lot of different quality standards and labels. Some cows have a better life than others of course. But at the end, we are using them as a “product” or “slaves” and not how other beings deserve it. Impregnating against the will of another being, stealing the baby, killing the baby, and killing herself is just not how you should treat another living being.

To conclude: It is not enough if the world goes vegetarian (it is a good step which I would love to see, but not the final step), because we cannot all drink milk without killing any cow. The same applies to the eggs.

By simply making other choices in the supermarket you can have a direct impact on the harm caused to other living beings. If you have any concerns regarding veganism have a look at my other articles and if you still have open questions or if you are struggling at a specific point, just leave me a comment or contact me directly.

Don’t close your eyes and ask yourself what stops you to make a difference? I am convinced you won’t regret it.

Cheers,