Where it Comes From. A Response to "Milk Doesn't Kill the Cow, Idiot!"

About a week ago I shared a photo of calf huts, and mentioned that calves who live in them become veal.

People refused to believe it. One man, a guy that fancies himself a freaking chef, demanded I provide him with sources because my "claims" were "wild".

We live in a world so disjointed from the source of what people put in their guts, they refuse to believe the plain and simple truth.

Let's start with the most basic knowledge. There are many different breeds of cows.
How many? 250 registry recognized breeds and over 800 total worldwide.

They are all born with one purpose. To serve human stomaches. They are literally #borntodie.

Does that seem dramatic? Of all those breeds, there are two purposes. They will either be dairy cows, or meat cows. A cow kept as a pet is a rare, rare thing. Which is a pity, as they are very sweet, kind and curious. They can even be taught to be ridden like a horse!

Today I am focusing on the children of Dairy Cows. Veal Calves.

Without the Dairy Industry, there would be NO Veal Industry.

Like any mammal, a Heifer must become pregnant and give birth before producing milk. Like any mammal, the Heifer produces milk perfect for raising her own young.

Think your problem with dairy is Lactose? Listen friend, you aren't a baby. And you aren't a cow. Your mammal mother made milk for you when you were born. Milk that was perfect for YOU.

It's a ridiculously simple equation. Human milk for Human babies. Cow milk for Cow babies.

But when humanities stomach gets involved, things get pretty fucked up.

Now, you may be wondering. Why would they kill dairy cows? Don't they need them to make the milk?

Aha! Yes! But! Only female cows make milk. And one bull can artificially inseminate an entire herd. Or three.

A dairy cow only lives between 4-5 years. She is used up. She's had her calves, been sucked dry and is ready to slaughter.

She could easily live to be over 20 years old if humans left her alone.

Now, her daughters will replace her. The daughters will continue the cycle. Bred. Calf stolen away at birth. Grow up losing several calves. Dead.

But what happens to the male calves? 50% of her babies will have the misfortune (or maybe luck, depending on how you look at it) to be born male.

Male Dairy Calves are not considered to be "good meat", so it is a waste of money for a farmer to raise them.

So you get calves that are one of two types of veal.

"Bob Veal" and "Milk Fed Veal". What's the difference? Well...

A "Bob" most often still has the umbilical cord still attached. They oldest "Bobs" are 3-weeks-old.

Some of these calves are "born" at the slaughterhouse, their mother being dismembered and the calf falling to the ground when the mother is eviscerated.

No. I will not spare precious, unknowing eyes from this. This is what is on plates around the world. Time to LEARN. Time to FACE REALITY.

If the staff has taken to long and the calf has suffocated inside of it's mother, the calf becomes the type of veal you find in hot dogs. It also becomes the "finest" cow hide leather.

If the calf is born alive, it is taken to the blood room. In this room a long needle is inserted between it's ribs to extract blood directly from the calf's heart. As much as possible. No pain killers.

THEN it goes to hot dogs and leather. This is called "bovine serum" and scientists use it.

Now, what about those that get to live a few weeks more, the bottle babies?

They are also removed from their mothers at birth. Your mother's milk is for humans, you pesky newborn!

These calves are put into little huts, hundreds lf them in rows. Each in their own hut. No contact with other calves. No contact with other cows. Solitary confinement.

Can't let that precious meat bag get any bruises!

Now here is a seriously sadistic part. As though ripping a baby from his mother's teat wasn't bad enough.

These calves are fed a "milk replacer" that DELIBERATELY leaves them with iron deficiencies so they are anemic. Gotta have that un-exersized, mal-nourished baby flesh!

Why? It makes their muscles white. Which is more asthetically pleasing to the fancy, high end places that serve it.

But, of course, these babies have never run. Never played. Never done anything so they lack muscle. They lack Iron which makes them weak.

What does this mean for the truck ride to the slaughter house?

You get a lot of "downer calves" that cannot withstand the physical stress.

Too weak to get up on their own, the slaughterhouse cannot legally accept a downer calf or cow. So it's up to the farmer or transporter to get them up and in. This motivation usually comes from abuse and beatings.

Average age of death for the sons of dairy cows who are bottle fed? 16 weeks.

They are forcably stolen from their mothers the day they are born. Their mother will cry for them for days, sometimes weeks.

They will be put in these tiny huts and the next time they emerge, they will be shoved into a hot, over crowded truck with a hundres other babies just as terrified as they are.

All so you can enjoy their flesh.

If you eat meat, there is no excuse to not know were it came from. You pay for their torture every time buy their flesh.

So now, if you have read this far, you can give an educated reply to the people calling Vegans idiots. Yes. Cows die for your milk.

700,000 babies every. Single. Year.

Is the selfishness worth it? Your stomach, their lives.

The dairy industry wants you to believe the lie. Their ridiculous commercials. "Happy cows come from California."

They were born to die.

*image of female Jersey Cows. They get to grow up to replace their soon to be dead mothers