Got Milk?

As I sit here chowing down on my dairy free chocolate (God bless Sweet Williams) and realise how SLACK I have been with my blog (ok not so much slack, but more so busy) I thought I would do a write up on the dairy industry - for those of you who don't understand why vegans are against milk.

For starters.... think about why mothers produce milk. You don't need much time to think about this one do ya? Duh it's for their children. So why is that humans drink the milk that is made for a baby calf? Hmmm good question. Why do we? Is it because someone thought one day "that calf seems to enjoying that... maybe I will too?"...

Lets look at it another way. What does the baby calf drink if we take away their milk? Nothing. Why's that? Because you don't need nutrition when you're dead. That's right - they die. And not because they aren't fed - it's because they are killed. Veal is the by-product of the dairy industry. So if you drink milk - you support the annual slaughter of 1 million, 5 day old calves.

Dairy cows are constantly impregnated. Once they have their calf they are lucky to spend 24hrs with it before it is taken away. Cows are very social creatures and mourn the loss of their child, calling out for it. I'm sure it would sound very distressing! During their mourning period they are milked for everything they got - literally - only to be impregnated again in 6-9 weeks. And starts again the vicious cycle that is their life...until of course they are too old to produce decent yields of milk anymore and then they become the cheap steak you buy in Woolies & Coles.

They are milked so often and so hard their udders get swollen and infected. The cows are then pumped with antibiotics... which, along with the pus, end up in your milk. I'm not saying this to gross you out - well maybe I am - but it's also the truth. The sad sad sick truth.

Breeding and genetic manipulations mean that a dairy cow can produce up to 50L of milk per day. That’s 10 times the milk that any calf would need!! 

Do you need anymore reason to consider picking up a carton of Soy Milk and giving it a go? It may take getting used too... but knowing there is no cruelty, or pus, involved - that's gotta be a good feeling right?