17 September, 2007

But dairy and eggs don't actually harm animals, right?

I am not sure if I have ever heard a statement more false. There are so many reasons that this statement just doesn't add up.

1. I don't know which is worse, being brought into the world solely for slaughter or being brought into the world to be used for your milk/eggs and then slaughtered. Put very simply, when a dairy cow can no longer produce milk, she is slaughtered and made into cheap beef. Same with chickens. When they no longer lay eggs, they are slaughtered. Plain and simple. This applies to organic, free-range, and factory farmed.

2. One word - Veal. I assume that any one reading this would know what veal is, but if not I will explain it to you. In order to produce milk, a cow must give birth (no, cows aren't just milk machines, they give milk for the same reasons humans do). If the cow gives birth to a female, that female is raised to also produce milk. If it gives birth to a male, that bull is raised for veal. This means that the calf is confined to a crate just big enough for him to stand up and turn around. He is given formula to ensure that he doesn't build up too much muscle. While we take the milk intended for him. No thanks.

3. Related to Number 2 (sort of). When male chicks are born in a layer house, they have no economic value. They are often ground up alive, suffocated, or simply thrown in a dumpster. Reading this statement makes my stomach turn.

4. It greatly decreases the lifespan of the animal. A cow can live to be well into it's thirties. The average age of a dairy cow is 5.

5. Its cruel. In other words, we do not need these products to survive and forcing cow/chicken to live in such horrible conditions simply because we like the way something tastes is wrong.

3 comments:

  1. This is exactly how I feel :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I couldn't have said it better.

    This is the truth.

    STRAIGHT UP!

    ReplyDelete