Isn’t vegetarianism enough?

Cows produce milk and chickens lay eggs, right? Nobody dies. Why can’t we eat them?

Well, first, they do die. Just like other animals, they are slaughtered when they are of no more use to the industry. When the females’ bodies have given out and can simply no longer produce milk or eggs, they are killed. But foremost, they are not ours to take. The milk is meant for the mother cow’s baby and the eggs belong to the mother hen who would start to lovingly care for her babies even before they are born.

The Dairy/Veal Connection

Just like humans, cows only produce milk when they are pregnant. To insure a steady supply of milk, female cows are kept perpetually pregnant so that they will lactate. The cows are brutally impregnated with a mechanical device called a “rape-rack” and so the cycle begins – raped, give birth, have her baby torn away from her, milked by machine for humans and start all over again. Here a cow is seen with swollen, infected and painful udder – the norm in the dairy industry.

Upon birth, calves are immediately taken from their mother. Undercover video of farmer brutally ripping the calf away minutes after birth is simply heartbreaking. Mothers cry out for their baby and run after the farmer, all in vain. All this so that her milk is not “wasted” on her baby, but rather she is mechanically milked to satisfy humans hunger for dairy products. The females calves are sent away to follow the same pathetic existence as their mothers.

The males are destined for veal production where they will live for four months chained in tiny disgusting stalls, barely able to turn around and never going outside. They are fed a diet devoid of iron so that their flesh becomes soft and pink. Purposely made anemic, these calves become weak. Their muscles atrophy and they can’t stand or walk. Disabled and malnourished, these babies are dragged to slaughter at only 16 weeks of age.

Millions of male calves are born to die so their mothers can produce milk. If you will never eat veal because you are horrified at the miserable life these calves are forced to live then you need to stop supporting the dairy industry because “there is one calf in every glass of milk.” Video.

The Chick/Egg Connection

The hens who lay eggs do not have it any better. They are de-beaked and confined together in tiny, filthy cages with wire bottoms for their entire lives, never basking in the sun or smelling fresh air. The ammonia smell from the piles and piles of feces from up t 100,000 birds in one building is noxious. The din of their hopeless voices is deafening. This is their life.

Yes, chickens lay eggs throughout their life, but they are still not ours to take. Chickens have been genetically modified to lay an extreme about of eggs in a year (up to 15 times the amount of their wild counterparts). As with the cows, this takes a toll on their body resulting in painful prolapsed uterus with systemic infections. When their battered body is no longer able to create eggs (in fact, the industry calls them “spent” hens), they are shipped off to slaughter. They are 1-1/2 years old.

“Free-range,” “cage-free” or “certified humane” eggs are a clever marketing ploy. Such chickens are still confined, housed inside on a the dirt floor, crammed together with thousands of other birds. Not caged, but also not free, not humane.

Hundreds of millions of male chicks hatched daily are considered an unnecessary “by-product” of the egg industry. Because these baby roosters can not lay eggs nor grow into “meat”chickens, male are considered useless. Instead of knowing the safety and love of their mothers’ wings, these tiny balls of yellow fluff are literally ground up alive or tossed in the trash to be slowly crushed and suffocated by the weight of chicks on top of them. An undercover video about hatchery operations can be seen here – Hatchery Video.

Consuming eggs contributes to the grizzly deaths of these chicks. It’s simple: Don’t consume eggs and you won’t be supporting this cruelty.

The Choice is Yours

For more information on this topic, contact us at 732-446-6808 x: 101 or via email. We are here to encourage and support you in transitioning to a plant-based, humane and healthy lifestyle. We offer assistance with nutritional guidelines, recipes, presentations, workshops, email tips and consultations. Be sure to ask for our free Veggie Starter Kit!