Vegan Practically

The dark side of dairy isn’t some secret underbelly of practice that we don’t know about. It’s obvious that the main reason mammals produce milk is as a source of nutrition for their babies. No recent pregnancy? No milk.

So yes, in order for cows to lactate, they need to give birth. In order to give birth, they need to be pregnant. In order to be worth the space they take up as dairy producers of high-yield, they need to be in a cycle of pregnancy. I’m sure I am not offering anyone who understands the basics of pregnancy and lactation any new information about what is expected of a dairy cow.

I have been reading This Is Vegan Propaganda (and other lies the meat industry tells you) by Ed Winters (Vermillion, 2022). I will write a fuller report after I finish it. This morning I read the section on dairy, and I learned a few things. Then I got an email about dairy from Veganuary, and it confirmed some of those things (see their infographic here).

To summarize the details from a typical UK dairy operation (keeping in mind that the UK is ranked as among the most humane national dairy industries globally)[content warning: graphic descriptions of cruelty to animals follow]:

• dairy cattle are kept in an almost constant state of pregnancy from the age of fifteen months old, being re-impregnated two months after giving birth
• the most common form of impregnating a cow is through a very invasive process of artificial insemination, that includes, among other things being restrained in a “cattle crush” device and having a farmer’s arm inserted into her anus “to hold her cervix in place through the lining of the anus before injecting the semen into her” (64).
• the bull from which the semen is retrieved have their semen collected through a process of “electro-ejaculation,” which involves the insertion of a device into the bull’s rectum that delivers an electric shock” (64)
• a newborn calf takes its first feed from the mother because it “contains colostrum, which is full of nutrients and antibodies” (64).
• newborns are then separated from their mothers, usually within 24 hours so as not to waste milk that is intended for human consumption
• this separation is distressing for both cow and calf
• the strain of almost-constant pregnancy means a cow is pretty much done as a milk-producer within 5 years (normal lifespan would be 15-20 years)
• at that point they are sent to slaughter for low grade meat products
• 20% of UK dairy cows, 40% of US dairy cows, and an astonishing 75% of Canadian dairy cows are farmed in zero-grazing systems, which means no time in the peaceful setting we imagine them in: grazing in pastures.
• when they are ready for slaughter, the cows are typically “forced into a stun box, where the slaughterhouse worker will then use a captive bolt guy to render her unconscious. Due to the precision required, and the fact that the cows will move around and try to escape, it is very common for the captive bolt to be used ineffectively” (67). This means they will still be conscious before having their throat slit so they can start bleeding out.

So that’s what happens to the grown ups. What about the babies?

• once separated from their mother, they are placed in “solitary confinement hutches” of 2m long, 1.2m wide, and 1.4m high, where they may be legally kept for 8 weeks
• females are then moved to group housing where they are readied for their life of impregnation and milk production
• males aren’t so useful in that regard, so they can be: 1. used for veal or 2. shot and discarded (in the UK around 60,000 to 95,000 male calves born into the dairy industry are shot and discarded after birth each year because veal has fallen into disfavour because of the treatment of the baby male cows)
• the veal industry is as horrific as everyone thinks it is — the life of a veal calf is quite literally “nasty, brutish, and short,” followed by the captive bolt gun before being shackled by the legs and having their throats cut.

About half of all beef comes from the dairy industry. This is not something I knew, but it makes be doubly pleased not to be contributing to the dairy industry.

The chapter tore at my heart. Given the wealth of plant-based alternatives to milk, there seems very little reason to use milk. I realize some people feel unable to give up cheese. I have blogged about the new world of vegan cheeses. And I also found value in Veganuary‘s article, “Cheese Addiction: An Honest Guide to Giving up Cheese.” They have other resources on dairy that someone feeling newly motivated but also a bit worried about what giving up dairy entails might find helpful.

Something to think about, anyway.

[Note from Tracy: You’ll notice that when I post about factory farming and animal cruelty, I never depict the atrocities in the blog imagery. You will never see that sort of image here. More often, I will accompany posts about animal cruelty with pictures of something else entirely, such as today’s photo of metal art designed for garden walls and fences.]