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by RacfeelBudkind 1883 days ago
> I totally get ethical vegetarianism, and appreciate that much animal abuse can occur within the dairy industry, but I don't think that's inherent.

It's inherent. Cows, like all mammals, need to have given birth to produce milk. This means dairy cows are impregnated and give birth roughly yearly. It's entirely uneconomical to raise all of the calves, since it would effectively triple or more the cost of producing milk, which is already barely profitable, even with government subsidies. So the calves are killed and sold as veal.
2 comments
xeromal 1883 days ago
Not a vegan or vegetarian but it's very hard to get past this point. It's definitely insane that we have to impregnate cows over and over to keep them producing milk.
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athms 1883 days ago
>...all mammals, need to have given birth to produce milk.

Wrong. Humans don't need to be pregnant or give birth to produce milk. Lactation can happen with medication or stimulation, which becomes easier as women age. If a woman is not inducing lactation with hormones, she must stimulate the breasts several times a day using hand compression or a breast pump. This is how adoptive and foster mothers breastfeed their babies. Lactation can also occur in men because they have milk glands, which is the reason they too can get breast cancer.

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boston_clone 1883 days ago
How, then, do you consider forcing medication or stimulation on a sentient being, without their consent? Obviously if this took place with a human, it’d violate several kinds of rights.

Now extend that train of thought towards other beings.

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athms 1883 days ago
Where in my reply did I mention forcing lactation on people? That is right, nowhere.

Perhaps you need some remedial reading comprehension.

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boston_clone 1882 days ago
Perhaps... but I was talking about cows.
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athms 1882 days ago
Where in my reply did I mention forcing lactation on cows? My comments were directed at the statement that all mammals need to give birth to lactate, which is incorrect.

If you are having difficulty ascertaining this point, you definitely need remedial reading comprehension.

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RacfeelBudkind 1883 days ago
That's an interesting aside about humans; I didn't know. I think the simplification is justifiable for the explanation in this case, though.
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