There Is Nothing ‘Vegetarian’ About Dairy

Here is why

Dear vegetarians, I used to be one of you. This post explains why I went one crucial step further — and why you should, too. The dairy industry is a hellish killing machine. It has deserved nothing but rejection from anyone with a conscience. Let me explain.👇

While meat consumption is still growing in many countries, plant-based lifestyles are exploding in popularity and will — supported by major economic and technological trends — throw the livestock sector into rapid decline much sooner than most people would dare to imagine today.

This is good news! Not only for the exploited animals but also for rainforests, climate protection efforts, ocean health, soil health, biodiversity, water and air quality, public health as well as for the world’s hungry, displaced indigenous people, and other human victims of the livestock sector.

However, one major inconsistency is hampering this process:

Many of the people who avoid meat for ethical and environmental reasons still continue to consume other animal-based foods, particularly cow's milk and dairy products.

This makes no sense because dairy farming entails exactly the same ethical and environmental problems as meat production — in some ways, dairy is even worse.

There are 1.5 billion vegetarians in the world. If even a fraction of them would be more consistent on this incredibly important issue, that would suffice to change the course of history.

Therefore, let me make clear once and for all why there is nothing ‘vegetarian’ about dairy.

1) Cows are separated from their mothers, mutilated, sexually abused, and slaughtered for dairy

Contrary to common belief, dairy farming is deeply cruel. 

As soon as they reach puberty — usually less than two years old (in human age, this would be around 13 years) — dairy cows are forcibly impregnated in what the industry calls “rape rack”. This highly invasive procedure often involves a farmer pushing a fist deep into the cow’s anus.

After carrying their babies for nine months, just like humans, the juvenile cows give birth.

There is a strong emotional bond between mother and baby cow. Although dairy cows are not mothers by their own choosing, their unwavering love for their offspring is unmistakable.

Cow mothers lick and nuzzle their calves, cradling them with an unspoken tenderness. With gentle nudges and soothing murmurs, they guide their wobbly-legged newborns to their first steps.

However, they won’t be allowed to keep their babies.

Typically a few hours or days after birth, newborn calves in the dairy industry are separated from their mother in a traumatizing procedure.

Many of the calves are brutally castrated and dehorned without anesthesia (cow horns are full of hypersensitive nerve endings).

Male calves aren’t needed by the industry and either slaughtered for meat after a tiny fraction of their natural life expectancy or even shot dead straight after birth — a practice known as “dairy’s dirty secret”.

To see how dairy calves are killed, click here. Viewer discretion is advised.

Mother cows often desperately cry for their stolen babies for days. Even when they eventually stop bellowing, they are usually still in distress.

Why are calves ripped away from their mothers?

If the calf stayed around mom, it would drink her milk. Like all other mammals, cows produce milk for their babies. But in the dairy industry, cow babies won’t get their mom’s milk because humans want to consume it.

The forced impregnation is repeated about every 12 months.

As if they were machines, dairy cows are rated based on their “milk yield”, “lactation curve”, “conception rate” and “reproductive performance”.

Dairy cows are also forced to produce up to 10 times as much milk as they would naturally. As a result, many of them suffer from extremely painful udder infections (which is also why there is regularly pus in cow’s milk).

Almost every dairy cow ends up being killed for meat

It is common in the industry for cows to be completely exhausted and “go down” after 4 or 5 years of continuous abuse, pregnancies, and milk production (a fraction of their natural life expectancy of 20 years) and then be sent to the slaughterhouse.

Milk production declines around that time anyways, so if the dairy cows are still standing, they are usually killed regardless.

According to a study, nearly 50 percent of dairy cows are lame by the time they are killed because of standing on concrete flooring and filth in intensive confinement.

“The dairy industry IS the meat industry. Almost every single dairy cow ends up being killed for meat. So if you are vegetarian, you might want to think about this, because at least when you’re being raised for meat, you’re just raised for meat and killed. But when you’re a dairy cow, you are sexually exploited and emotionally and physically exhausted until you can’t take it anymore — and then you’re killed for meat. Sounds worse to me!"
— Erin Janus

Extreme violence and torture

In addition to the horrific suffering that the dairy cows normally endure, there are countless cases of additional severe torture and abuse. 

Investigations continuously expose dairy farms where cows are are violently kicked, beaten, whipped, hanged, stabbed, burned, dragged by ropes, drowned in ‘fecal soup’, or have body parts cut off with shears.

Most cases, however, are never reported. As the Humane Society states, “the shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every day is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Some farms might be less cruel than others, but there is no such thing as cruelty-free milk.”
— Erica Meier

“Cows are suffering on even the most ‘humane’ dairy farms.”
— Annie Lowrey

Take a moment to imagine all of this happening to any person or animal you love — and you will intuitively know how wrong it is to subject any sentient being to such a miserable life.

2) Dairy is an environmental nightmare

The dairy industry not only heartless and cruel to animals but also incredibly destructive for climate and environment.

As The Guardian reports, greenhouse gas emissions from just 13 dairy firms match those of the entire UK.

When compared with plant-based alternatives, cow’s milk has by far the biggest environmental footprint — not only in terms of emissions, but also in terms of freshwater use, land use, and eutrophication.

Oat milk, for instance, uses around 92% less land and freshwater, causes 85% less eutrophication, and produces 70% less greenhouse gas emissions than cow’s milk.

Even the “worst” plant-based alternatives, such as almond and rice milk, are still far better for the environment than dairy milk.

Cheese often exceeds the environmental impacts of meat production.

Avoiding dairy and meat has been recognized as the “single biggest way to reduce your impact on Earth”.

3) We are healthier without dairy

Cow’s milk is the mother’s milk of another species. Our bodies need it as little as we need rat milk, giraffe milk, dog milk or orang-utan milk.

Logically, nobody needs cow’s milk, except for baby cows.

Humans are the only species that has developed the weird habit of consuming the milk of another species — and despite elaborate disinformation efforts by Big Dairy trying to convince you otherwise, dairy products aren’t beneficial for our health.

Many people got duped into believing milk is necessary for healthy bones. To the contrary, studies have shown that people who consume large amounts of dairy products have a higher risk of fracturing bones and dying prematurely.

We can easily get all the calcium we need from plant-based foods. This is the healthier option because there are serious health concerns related to dairy consumption.

“Milk and other dairy products are the top source of saturated fat in the American diet, contributing to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.”
— Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Studies have also linked dairy to an increased risk of various cancers, including testicular, lung, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

The world's largest organization of nutrition experts, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has long confirmed that a balanced vegan diet offers health benefits and is “appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes.”

Conclusion

Virtually all cows in the dairy industry are slaughtered — after a repetitive cycle of abuse and suffering. The industry is extremely harmful for climate and environment. On top of that, we have seen that consuming dairy is completely unnecessary. We are even healthier without it.

Bottom line: consuming dairy goes against everything vegetarianism claims to stand for.

There is no longer any excuse for supporting this violent and destructive industry.

While dairy is widely considered part of a vegetarian diet, it really isn’t vegetarian. At least if you want to understand vegetarianism as a lifestyle driven by ethical, social and environmental concerns, and not as a hollow and meaningless set of dietary guidelines.

If you disagree, please let us know in the comments which part of an industry that relentlessly kills cow babies and mothers is even remotely consistent with the values of vegetarianism.

Ditching meat for ethical and environmental reasons but continuing to consume other animal products is like trying to mop a floor while the tap is still running. It may be a well-meant attempt — even a step in the right direction, but overall, it simply won’t work.

In times of unprecedented environmental destruction and animal suffering, we can’t afford such half-hearted “solutions”. 

In everyone’s interest, we need to unleash the untapped potential that lies in being consistent on issues that truly matter — like opposing the murderous dairy industry.

The mission ahead

As you may have guessed, the same criticism applies to fish, eggs, and other animal products. Corresponding articles will follow soon — along with other eye-opening pieces that are already under construction.

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