Cows

Now, on to cows.

Dairy cows are slaughtered for meat. Their calves are taken away from them and subjected to brief lives of abject misery before being slaughtered as "veal". Using dairy products supports animal cruelty, factory farming, and the use of cows' skin for leather. This came up recently during the scandal surrounding the Hallmark Meat Packing plant. The surprising thing about this whole kerfuffle is that so many people didn't know dairy cows were also used for meat and leather.

Think about those misleading "happy cow" commercials for California cheese...THOSE COMMERCIALS ARE A LIE. The Hallmark plant is IN California. Those sick, abused, crippled, abject creatures being shoved with forklifts are the so-called "happy" dairy cows of California. I know it's not easy or comfortable to think about, or to live with. That's why so many people abstain from dairy - one of the easiest things in the world to do, since there are so many very reasonable replacements - soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, oat, and hemp milks are all available at most grocery stores.

Here's a take on this issue from An Animal Friendly Life:

http://ananimalfriendlylife.com/2008/01/yes-dairy-cows-are-slaughtered-for.html

And here's the original Washington Post article about the Hallmark Meat Packing plant:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/29/AR2008012903054.html