Just adding: the discussion of dairy cows, here and elsewhere, tends to focus on the experience of the adult cattle & the suffering for them of being milked, deprived of their babies, etc.
But it’s not implausible to me that the majority of the disvalue from dairy is in the lives of the calves born to dairy cows. In typical milk-producing operations, adult cows have 1 calf every 18 months or so; 50% of them are male, and so are killed within a few hours to a few months after birth.
(& these lives more likely to be net negative because they have less time to experience positive things to outweigh the terror and pain of death. Undoubtedly, some of their deaths will be quite quick, but others are slow and brutal.)
(Also, veal calves are treated very badly—intense confinement to reduce movement to keep the meat tender, dietary restriction to keep the meat pale, individual confinement in a tiny ‘hutch’, etc.)
(& let’s not forget the fetal calves who are still gestating when their mothers go to slaughter. They’re killed slowly, if they ever get purposefully slaughtered at all rather than just left to asphyxiate. Obviously, it’s unclear whether they’re conscious, but I’ve read accounts of them moving, opening eyes, trying to breathe, etc.).
Thanks Bella, this has crossed my mind and definitely updates me towards dairy farmed cows in New Zealand being more likely to be net negative. I’m not sure whether the veal thing happens in New Zealand though I’ll look into it.
Just adding: the discussion of dairy cows, here and elsewhere, tends to focus on the experience of the adult cattle & the suffering for them of being milked, deprived of their babies, etc.
But it’s not implausible to me that the majority of the disvalue from dairy is in the lives of the calves born to dairy cows. In typical milk-producing operations, adult cows have 1 calf every 18 months or so; 50% of them are male, and so are killed within a few hours to a few months after birth.
(& these lives more likely to be net negative because they have less time to experience positive things to outweigh the terror and pain of death. Undoubtedly, some of their deaths will be quite quick, but others are slow and brutal.)
(Also, veal calves are treated very badly—intense confinement to reduce movement to keep the meat tender, dietary restriction to keep the meat pale, individual confinement in a tiny ‘hutch’, etc.)
(& let’s not forget the fetal calves who are still gestating when their mothers go to slaughter. They’re killed slowly, if they ever get purposefully slaughtered at all rather than just left to asphyxiate. Obviously, it’s unclear whether they’re conscious, but I’ve read accounts of them moving, opening eyes, trying to breathe, etc.).
Thanks Bella, this has crossed my mind and definitely updates me towards dairy farmed cows in New Zealand being more likely to be net negative. I’m not sure whether the veal thing happens in New Zealand though I’ll look into it.