Calves are byproducts of the dairy industry. These calves are taken away very early in their lives to end up in veal crates, tethered until slaughtered.
quote from 'White lies' booklet :
'Milk production today is big business. Currently in the UK 2.2 million cows are held in 22,000 dairy holdings. There total value ofthe production of milk in the UK is estimated to be £2.7 billion'
it goes on to say:
'A common misconception is that it is nateral for cows to produce milk constantly. This is not the case; just like us, cow's only produce milk after a nine month pregancy and giving birth. Todays large-scale intensive dairy farming employs a highly regulated regime of cycling pregnancy and lactation concurrently, meaning that cows are both lactating and being milked at the same time for most of each year. This intensive physical demand puts a tremendous strain on the dairy cow and, as she gets older, infertility and severe infections causing mastitis and lameness cuts short her economic and productive life. (The dairy council 2002) The average lifespan of a modern dairy cow is only five years - that is after three or four lactations, when naturally she may live for 20 -30 years.'
I strongly recommend this booklet which can be got from
www.vegetarian.org uk
Also because of this intensive milking the dairy cow when has mastitis is still milked and the dairy industry allows so much pus into the milk production.
And there can be antibiotic residue in dairy milk.
Cows milk is loaded with hormones (like human milk) designed for calves and there is a strong link between the rise of breast cancer and prostate cancer. This is due to the fact of our own hormones being bombarded with these extra hormones that can cause cancer.