On being a vegan?

Question

Whats the point? Chickens have to lay unfertilized eggs, and Cows have to be milked or they get very cranky. These things are produced by the animal without any unnatural sufffering to the animal. Therefore to argue animal rights in this matter, is slightly twisting the truth... again whats the point and wheres the Justification for being a vegan?

Of course I can understand the vegetarian thing, but no animal products whatsoever, just throws me for a loop.

good info veggietart; but I have to eat organicly grown fed, naturally produced dairy products anyway, because of a gluten- intolerance. So I still don't see the harm in this, as I doubt these particualr animals are abused the same way as generic produce is.

Elizabeth J-what does a chicken need their unfertilized eggs for?

Answer 1

The point is convenience. They can call themselves vegans and not have to do anything themselves except shop at one store instead of another. They are against the things they've mentioned here but conveniently leave out the fact that the produce they eat is fertilized by rendered animal parts. Not eating commercially grown produce would be too inconvenient for them, so that issue doesn't count. The definition of vegan has been augmented from the "exclusion of animal exploitation" to the "exclusion of animal exploitation when possible" which actually means the "exclusion of animal exploitation when convenient".

There are no true vegans here, just the strict vegetarians that like to call themselves "vegan" for the status.

Answer 2

To start with, fertilized or unfertilized, it's not always the egg itself that's the concern but the way the egg is obtained form the chicken. Crammed into a box, having their beaks "removed" so as not to kill each other while they're stuffed on top of each other in these boxes, isn't exactly living a healthy, happy life. Not to mention what happens to the male chicks before they get here...

Unless I can see where the egg comes from, know the bird who laid it and know they live a happy life, I won't eat an egg.

Have you ever really thought about milk? Baby animals live off their mothers milk until they can eat on their own. Then they stop feeding and the mother stops producing. Why then, would we want to continue milking these animals and drinking their milk? Would you continue to drink your mother's breast milk for the rest of your life? If that isn't bad enough, why would you drink the milk from an entirely different species of animal?

Then there's the whole ordeal with how those cows are raised. No, they don't need to be milked for their own health. They';re injected with hormones so that they keep producing milk well after pregnancy. The cows they give birth to are then shipped back to the dairy to be used for milking or get sent out to the slaughterhouses. So drinking milk isn't as humane or harmless as you would think.

Answer 3

Sigh.

Chickens might have to lay eggs, but they don't have to be crammed in battery cages so they can't stretch a single wing, be pumped full of steroids until they're os big they can't walk, and starved to shock their bodies into extra laying cycles.

I'd say being attached to a milk machine hurts worse. Besides, there would BE no milk if the cows weren't kept pregnant constantly.

There's nothing unnatural about chickens laying eggs or cows giving milk... but that egg is the chicken's and COW'S MILK IS MEANT FOR BABY COWS.

Answer 4

Chickens: Over the years, animal scientists have developed two types of chickens: "broilers" who produce a lot of meat, and "layers," who don't. This means that baby male layer chicks are killed at birth because they don't lay eggs and don't grow large enough quickly enough to be profitable for meat. Hens enslaved for their eggs are crammed into cages, about six to eight birds per cage the size of a file cabinet drawer. When their production declines, they are killed, and their flesh used for nuggets, ground products, cheap pot pies. Their bodies are so battered, the quality of the flesh is poor.

Cows: Cows, like every other mammal, only produce milk when pregnant. Cows are kept constantly pregnant and shot up with hormones to ensure milk production. The constant milking causes irritation to their udders, and they are fed antibiotics to counteract mastitis. And of course, at the end of pregnancy is a calf. Females join mom on the dairy line, while males end up in the veal crates. Some less-unfortunate calves may end up as beef cattle, which is not as cruel, but still no fun. And of course, once a dairy cow's production declines, she is killed and probably becomes hamburger.

Answer 5

Nature designed cows to work like every other mammal: females lactate in conjunction with giving birth and the milk is perfectly designed for her offspring, for whom it is intended. The only reason dairy cows "have" to be milked is that they are repeatedly artificially inseminated to keep them producing and their offspring are removed within 24 hours of birth so they don't drink down the profits. Cows in large factory dairy operations have been bred to have oversized udders and are mechanically milked; they often have chronic mastitis due to the conditions in which they are kept (which might not concern you if you like a little tasty pus in your milk.) The physical stress of this endless cycle of pregnancy and lactation means a cow, who would normally live as long as 20 years, is worn out after 5 or 6 years and is sent to slaughter for cheap beef. Male calves have no value to a dairy operation so they are sold for veal. The dairy industry contributes directly to animal suffering.

Laying hens are crammed into tiny cages with half a dozen other layers, each with about the space of a sheet of printer paper. It's not enough to spread their wings and chicken routinely break their legs due to the crowding or have their feet grow painfully deformed from the wire of the cages. Chickens are debeaked with a hot knife and no anesthetic so that they don't peck each other to death from the stress of the conditions they are kept in. Male chicks have no value to a laying operation so they are discarded by the thousands to starve or suffocate. The egg industry contributes directly to animal suffering.

Edit to add: after reading your comments to VeggieTart, it sounds like you're trying to justify your egg and milk consumption. Which suggests to me that you, at least on some level, do understand the point of veganism.

Answer 6

hey good morning - well i have been at this veggie thing for nearly 30 years-personally until about 10 yrs or so ago i had never even heard the term. for about the first 10 years i ate no meat fish eggs or dairy or grains or nuts unless the beans or grain were sprouted would wouldn't eat them either. i was born with asthma - i have not had an asthma attack in 25 years. when i started to have children my husband and i decided it would be better for kids inside me if i used dairy. we started eating cooked food and beans grains, but still no meat fish or eggs. as far as i can tell it is just another label- or maybe they want to sound special-cuz if vegan means NO animal stuff at all: that makes any vegan who uses any kind of fossil fuels for anything a hypocrite-or maybe they want to sound philosophical-even if they wear plastic shoes or clothes that stuff is processed with fossil fuels, and shipped using fossil fuels. so when folks ask are you a veggie or a vegan ? i tell them i am a human who eats NO meat fish or eggs if they want to label it something special - who cares

Answer 7

i have no ideal why some people are vegans, it's like they just want to pick a fight when theres no more fights to fight

oh wait, chickens are abused to make your eggs
and milk have stuff that'll mess you up
cows in india is sacred but are being smuggled out and abused on the way to pakistin where it is legal to er kill em and make leather couch, so if abusing is right and getting messed up is good and lying and killing sacred cows is kosher

then i dont' want to be a part of it, i can't stop it, but I can stop me

if everyone else is not doing good
i alone will
if everyone else is doing wrong
i alone will not

-buddha