Deconstructing the Dairy Is Natural Myth... in 14 Steps
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FROM
Free From Harm
July 2013
This diagram widely available on dairy industry websites shows how
artificial insemination is performed on a female cow.
The dairy industry has most people believing that cow’s milk, and the
cheese, yogurt, butter, ice cream and other products derived from it, are
“natural” for us to consume. But if they are indeed so natural, then why
does the dairy industry have to use such extremely unnatural practices to
extract the mammary gland secretions from cows?
- What’s natural about
artificial insemination — the process of forcibly inserting bull semen deep
inside the cow’s vagina while positioning the equipment through an arm in
her rectum?
- What’s natural about forcing bulls to ejaculate using an
instrument called an electroejaculator?
- What’s natural about the use of the
constraining device that the industry calls a “rape rack” that is used to
perform artificial insemination?
- What’s natural about an animal’s udders
being hooked up to computerized milking machinery?
- What’s natural about
manipulating the reproductive systems of female cows through genetics to get
them to produce 6 to 9 times more milk than their bodies were designed for?
- What’s natural about artificially breeding millions of cows only to
slaughter them at a fraction of their natural lifespan when their milk
production declines?
- What’s natural about stripping the calves away from
their mothers at birth and forcing them to live in isolation?
- What’s natural
about feeding their calves raised for veal a diet that makes them anemic and
malnourished?
- What’s natural about inserting a spiked nose ring in a calve’s
nose to prevent him from suckling on his mother’s udders?
- What’s natural
about consuming the breast milk of another species, intended for their own
calves, into adulthood?
- What’s natural about drinking dairy milk when most
of the global population can’t even digest or tolerate it?
- What’s natural
about dying from a heart attack or stroke at 50 because our arteries are so
clogged with cholesterol?
- What’s natural about forcing our children to
consume something their bodies were never designed for, causing asthma,
allergies, rashes, and juvenile diabetes?
- What’s natural about forsaking our
compassion and harming other animals not because we have to, but just
because we can?
References:
(1) Progressive Dairyman, A.I. Cover Sheaths Improved Fertility in Lactating
Dairy Cows, October 2011
(2) Lyons DT, Freeman AE and Kuck AL. 1991. Genetics of health traits in
Holstein cattle. Journal of Dairy Science 74 (3): 1092-100
(3) “The Welfare of Cows in the Dairy Industry,” Humane Society of the
United States. Accessed 7/21/2014 from:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-the-welfare-of-cows-in-the-dairy-industry.pdf
(4) “Livestock Slaughter 2013 Summary,” USDA National Agricultural
Statistics Service, 2014. Accessed 7/21/2014 from:
http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/lsan0414.pdf
(5) “The Welfare of Animals in the Veal Industry,” Humane Society of the
United States. Accessed 11/30/2014 from:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-the-welfare-of-animals-in-the-veal-industry.pdf
(6) “The Welfare of Animals in the Veal Industry,” Humane Society of the
United States. Accessed 11/30/2014 from:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-the-welfare-of-animals-in-the-veal-industry.pdf
(7) “Health Concerns About Dairy Products,” Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine. Accessed 11/2/2014 from:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products
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