[JoBravo]

So, I'm in India and when discussing veganism with these folks, they seem utterly horrified at how cows are treated in America.<br><br>
In India, the cow is one of the most numinous creatures and it is, in many respects, worshiped as a god so killing, harming, and eating cow is taboo. In fact, it's even disrespectful to <i>bother</i> a cow as my Indian cab driver demonstrated when we sat behind on parked in the road for about 20 minutes.<br><br>
But does anyone know of any reputable sources on how milk cows are treated on a commercial level in India? Would anyone be able to point me in the right direction? Some of what I'm finding on the internet is not from India so I remain skeptical of it. A lot of what I'm finding also is stuff like "How/Reasons to Start a Dairy Farm in India". lol<br><br>
From the cows that I see, they are kept with families and are given complete autonomy. Indian friends claim that these cows aren't artificially inseminated but I don't know how many of them have farming backgrounds.

 

[JoBravo]

I did find this link:<br><br><a href="http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/sri-vaishnava-forum/133652-time-give-up-milk-even-india.html" target="_blank">http://www.indiadivine.org/audarya/s...ven-india.html</a><br><br>
I'm wondering if many Indians, like Americans, are unaware of how dairy cows are treated, if the above information is correct.<br><br>
Still researching, though.

 

[Poppy]

I believe Peta has an international site with Indian information.

 

[JoBravo]

The PETAIndia site just links to information from the main site.

 

[ade903]

I don't know so much about dairy specifically, but I do know a lot of leather comes from India (this was shown in Earthlings). I can't remember specifics, but it goes something like this: cows are purchased from areas in India where it is illegal to slaughter them. They spend several days walking to a place that they can be slaughtered. During this travel they don't get food and water. A lot of them get weak because of this and the people have to torture them (breaking their tails) to get them to keep moving. Then they are killed for their hides. I'd imagine that dairy cows end up here (just a thought).<br><br>
I found this article: <a href="http://www.newint.org/columns/currents/2010/07/01/india-leather-cows/" target="_blank">http://www.newint.org/columns/curren...-leather-cows/</a>

 

[Netrat]

Found this:<br><br><a href="http://www.dahd.nic.in/dahd/reports/report-of-the-national-commission-on-cattle/chapter-ii-executive-summary/annex-ii-8.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.dahd.nic.in/dahd/reports/...nnex-ii-8.aspx</a><br><a href="http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0529/india.cows.html" target="_blank">http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/...ndia.cows.html</a><br><br>
As for laws listed, I won't really trust the list. This is India, after all: law in one thing, life is another. For example, it says selling beef is prohabited in Goa, while in reality a beef steak can be ordered in every 5th restaurant.