why don't vegans drink milk?

Question

If a cow HAS to be milked everyday because it produces 16-20 litres of milk a day and can only hold a few litresin it's udders at a time, why won't vegans drink it? If the cow wasn't milked it would get infections in it's udders too. So milking a cow is good for it, shouldn't vegans approve of it?

Good points! They would only lactate because they were constantly giving birth. Doh I didn't think of that!

Answer 1

Cows only produce milk after they have had calves. Guess what happens to the calves (hint, they do not frolick in clover filled meadows). Here's the full argument: http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_cows_dairy.asp

Answer 2

Veganism is a philosophy that seeks to eliminate animal exploitation. We actually do not avoid eggs because of their potential for life as a chicken; the eggs you buy in the grocery stores are not fertilized and would never have grown into live birds. Instead, we avoid eggs and dairy because of the disgusting, inhumane, abusive and exploitative conditions under which they are produced. It IS about the big dairy operations where they artificially inseminate, sell calves to veal, pump cattle full of chemicals and use them up after a fraction of their life spans. Just like it's about battery cages, debeaking, force moulting and wholesale slaughter of useless male chicks. Maybe not every operation involves all of those things, but the vast majority of the eggs and dairy on the market do. And even smaller, "happy" food type operations sell their animals to slaughter when they stop producing. It's a business. The animals are a commodity. None of them want to feed, water and medicate animals that don't produce. Besides the inhumane treatment, most of us recognize that these foods simply aren't necessary. We're the only species of mammals that drinks milk beyond infancy and the only species of mammals that drinks the milk of another species. It's nonsensical to argue that another species' milk is somehow a necessary part of our diet. Same thing with eggs; we just don't have any dietary need to consume a bird's reproductive waste. Lastly, for some of us, health is a concern. If you're interested in the link between animal foods and disease, check out The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.

Answer 3

Cows and other mammals are not in constant lactation. Think about it. Human moms stop breastfeeding and their milk dries up, right? Same thing for all mammals. Why do cows *have* to be milked? Because they are 1) kept being bred and 2) kept on hormones that stimulates milk production.

The calves that come from the breeding are mostly taken from the mother cows and immediately slaughtered or confined to small pens and raised as veal. Not a nice thought.

Vegans see this practice as exploiting cattle. And it is. Whether or not it is right, depends upon your viewpoint.

We do see that humans now hit puberty much sooner. Some see it as a result of feeding cow milk laced with hormones to our children. The vegans could have a point.

Answer 4

Because milk comes from an animal, plain and simple! If it's anything at all from an animal or animal product of any type, they cannot have it. Whether it's good for the cow or not has nothing to do with it. Besides, many people now are saying that dairy isn't so good for humans anyway - cow's milk is really meant for baby cows.

Answer 5

The definition of a vegan is to NOT eat or drink anything that comes from an animal. Also they do not wear anything that comes from animals (leather, fur, wool, etc.) Plus cows only produce milk so that they can feed their calves. Farmers use chemicals to make the cows produce milk anytime, not just when calves are born. This use of chemicals on animals is why vegans don't drink milk. Also the living conditions that the animal endure is also another reason because this also is cruel and unusual punishment for cows.

Answer 6

A cow produces milk when she's pregnant. Cows don't have to be milked It's not as though they were put on earth to produce milk for people. we are the only species on earth that drinks the breast milk of another animal. the reason why vegans such as myself don't drink milk is because the dairy industry is the byproduct of the veal industry. plus the dairy cows are pumped with tons of medications to make them produce more milk then is natural, on top of that, on most commercial farms the cows aren't treated very nice.

Answer 7

Most of those answers are good enough for me, I don't need to add anything to those. There was one that I will make a comment about though, I don't have a problem with wearing leather or wool, it's not that I am eating the animal but using the material that is cut from a sheep without killing it is fine, and cow hide is a very strong material and you don't have to slaughter a cow to get it, it won't infect your body to wear its' hide after it dies. I have been a vegan for over 15 years, it's a matter of knowing how to get the nutrients from plants, and, even plants these days are groaning with disease during production, imagine what we are looking at with animals!

Answer 8

Vegans do not consume dairy products because they come from animals. The dairy cows are treated horribly, so we do not support the industry. Cows produce milk for the same reason that humans do—to nourish their young—but calves on dairy farms are taken away from their mothers when they are just 1 day old. They are fed milk substitutes (which may include cattle blood) so that their mothers’ milk can be sold to humans.

Kinda sad, huh? I wish that it was as simple as not wanting to take food away from a baby animal, but its not.

Answer 9

Like most say, dairy cows are kept lactating. However they are not constantly pregnant. Once a cow has one calf it can be kept lactating almost indefinitly. Some, not all, dairy farms feed their cows hormones to produce more milk, this is mainly to meet demand. Anyone who thinks milk is not good for you is on dope. I would be curious to know if vegans breast feed their children until they're 9. If not, then do they feed their kids suppliments produced in a lab, or formula, produced in a lab, or do they let thier kids grow up with calcium defiency, and weak bones and bad teeth. I have drank milk everyday since I was a small child, I started to get fuzzy nuts at 12, have been in 4 car accidents, fell off a cliff skiing, was in an explosion, slammed up against a steel pillar at work, and have never had a broken bone or a cavity. Coincidence, maybe, but I like to think having strong bones has something to do with it. Personally, I could care less about a vegans lifestyle, that's their business, but don't tell me about what great things they are doing for the animals. They buy fruit and veg from a grocery store, most of which are pumped full of growth hormone and sprayed with pesticides. Granted organics arn't, but these are in the minority. Also alot of these friut and veg are not produced here, they are produced in countries that don't even treat their humans ethically. There are plenty of pros to eating a diet with plenty of fruit and veg, but don't preach to me about how I'm contributing to the cruelty of cows because I drink milk.

Answer 10

cows are pumped with hormones and are repeatedly impregnanted to produce more milk. their babies are taken away at a young age to be turned into veal. i suggest organic milk from a farm where the animals are respected and arent pupmed with the horemones that you are drinking every time you drink milk.