> But I wasn’t comfortable with the practice of removing calves from mothers and sending four-day-old calves to be slaughtered.
Calves are a by-product of milk. The world doesn't need calves, doesn't want (or like) veal. Calves exist because in order to get milk, we need to get the cows pregnant. Then we kill the calves.
There is no other way to get cow milk; there is no way to make "humane" milk. We can either, not use milk, or devise a way to produce synthetic milk.
It doesn't have to be like that. I grew up on a Norwegian dairy farm. Killing calves is not something that my parents or anyone else in the business did. Female calves get to grow up and become milk cows, for male calves they are kept around until they are full grown and then get slaughtered for meat. There is a lot of places where this isn't the standard procedure, but it is an option.
There’s consumer demand for veal. It’s delicious. Companies just don’t want the headaches caused by the finger-waggers. So many male calves are shot and discarded instead of becoming food. It’s insane.
> So many male calves are shot and discarded instead of becoming food.
Well, at least now I think I found out where all that cat and dog food comes from. Seriously, 90 million cats and 70 million dogs alone in the US, that's a huuuuuge load of food.
Calves are a by-product of milk. The world doesn't need calves, doesn't want (or like) veal. Calves exist because in order to get milk, we need to get the cows pregnant. Then we kill the calves.
There is no other way to get cow milk; there is no way to make "humane" milk. We can either, not use milk, or devise a way to produce synthetic milk.
But cow milk == killing calves.