Five Reasons Why Ahimsa Slaughter-free Milk is Cruel
Today, some people are actively promoting milk that they state is ahimsa, slaughter-free. These promoters claim that in producing ahimsa milk, cows are not artificially inseminated, rather they are allowed to mate naturally. Calves are not separated from their mothers and are let to stay with them. The cows are milked by hand, and not by machines. They are allowed to graze freely and are not confined to sheds. The cows are taken good care of and are not sent to slaughter at any stage of their life.
Well, if this is the case, can we purchase ahimsa milk? We shall find out in this article.
1. There is no nice way to exploit someone
All of what ahimsa milk claims to be may mean less suffering compared to life in a usual, commercial dairy, but could that possibly justify owning individuals as property and exploiting them as resources?
It is obvious that running a dairy, “ahimsa” or otherwise, means needing animals to become mothers year after year.
Animal rights philosopher, Gary Francione argues: “If animals are not just things, but sentient nonhuman persons who have moral value, as most people believe, then we cannot treat them as resources however supposedly “humanely” we treat them. There is veganism and there is animal exploitation. There is no third choice. If you are not vegan you are participating directly in animal exploitation.”
Ahimsa milk is focused on lessening suffering, rather than respecting the fundamental rights of animals. It is essential that people authentically embrace veganism as a basic principle of justice and nonviolence, and not just as one way of reducing suffering.
It is important that we reject all animal use, regardless of how the animal is treated, because there is never a nice way to exploit someone.
Animals are someone, not something. Suggesting that someone can be humanely exploited is opposite to the concept of ahimsa.
2. Absence of consent
Would slavery be acceptable if the slaves are treated well? Even if they are fed well and taken good care of, at the end of the day, slavery is forced unfree labor, and is unacceptable in progressive society.
And how much ever ahimsak we may make the process seem, extracting any type of animal milk in any manner remains an act of animal exploitation because cows are mothers who produce milk for their babies and these mothers don’t give their consent to have their milk taken from them.
“Consent—even when there’s an ability to understand and communicate the concept, which is doubtful for animals—is a function of power. You have to have some power, and some autonomy, in order to be able to make the choice to give or withhold consent. Animals, who are looked at as property, possess no power and no autonomy. Their entire existence, and every aspect of it, is dependent on the whim of the property owner.”, rightly points out Linda McKenzie in one of her articles.
We are taught that cows ‘give’ us milk. But, they don’t really ‘give’ us milk. Rather, we ‘take’ it from them.
Not our mom. Not our milk.
How much ever space we give the cows to graze, the moment we start using them and the moment we attach a price tag to their life, we are commodifying them, thus depriving them of their freedom.
Giving cows “good” treatment with the ulterior motive to take away their milk, is not ahimsa.
3. Cows do not naturally produce excess milk
You may say that cows produce extra milk, which is taken only after the calf is done drinking. While it may be true that a lot of cows do produce excess milk, it is important to understand that this is because the animals have been genetically modified or selectively bred to produce more milk, so that they can be optimally used as resources for the dairy business. This is a result of human greed and not a result of evolution or God’s will. And participating in the system that creates the problem, is definitely not the solution.
4. Environmental hazards of ahimsa milk
In addition, ahimsa milk poses significant and unavoidable environmental, animal welfare, and scalability problems.
Although ahimsa milk producers condemn artificial insemination, they promote natural insemination since cows have to give birth in order for the cycle of milk production to continue.
This leads to more cows.
“There are currently more than 264 million dairy cows worldwide. Even with the global dairy industry slaughtering millions of cows and male calves every year, and even with cows increasingly raised in confinement (using the least amount of space possible), cattle and the crops used to grow their feed occupy almost one-third of the earth’s entire land surface. If dairy production were to shift toward the Ahimsa Dairy model, all of these cows would be transitioned to free range pasture. Imagine how much more land would be required, firstly, to pasture all of the cows currently raised in confinement, and, secondly, to support the tens of millions of additional cows and calves who, instead of being slaughtered, must also be accommodated with pasture.” points out Andrea Davis, a former ahimsa dairy farmer who turned vegan.
When we create demand for dairy, more cows are bred into existence. They take up a lot of resources, like water and land. They also produce methane and therefore contribute to accelerating the effects of climate change.
"Cows are massive animals who eat, poop, burp, and fart a lot. These farts release methane into the air. Considering there are a billion cows doing it at the same time – this is a catastrophe of gigantic proportions. According to a report published in Science Daily, methane is roughly 30 times more potent as a heat-trapping gas than carbon dioxide. This simply means that methane is one of the big culprits for global warming. Three of the key sources of methane that arise from human activity are – the digestive systems of “livestock” animals, the decomposition of waste in landfills, and the burning of biomass." From: Dairy Is Scary! Truth or Dodge?
5. Practical problems of ahimsa milk for the farmer
Since in ahimsa milk dairies, cows are not killed or made to work, farmers do not earn money from their flesh or labor. Also, the farmer at any point will have a larger number of cows to take care of, since the cows are not sold to slaughter. And as the ahimsa milk farmer does not give the cows hormonal injections to increase milk production, the milk produced will be less. This will clearly not bring the farmer any profit. The price of the ahimsa milk will be high and will not be able to compete with commercial dairy.
When cows began to be domesticated and humans drank their milk for the first time, hormonal injections or milking machines were not used. They probably didn’t kill the cows either. The situation during those times was similar to today’s ahimsa milk concept.
But that is what has led us to the current cruel dairy we see today. Even if we consider a hypothetical situation in which the whole world starts producing the only so-called ahimsa milk, do you think it will be economically viable? Milk production is after all a business. And in any business, the primary aim is to maximize profit. And as we just discussed, it is impossible to make a profit using techniques of natural insemination, no-slaughter, and so on.
In addition to involving exploitation, lack of consent, cows becoming victims of the system and environmental harm, the “ahimsa” milk is an impractical method that simply is not sustainable.
Conclusion: Why ahimsa slaughter-free milk is cruel
The solution to ending cruelty and exploitation is not to switch to ahimsa milk, but to stop using any product derived from animals.
As long as there is demand for milk and other animal products, there will be exploitation.
And the demand is created by consumers. As consumers we have the power to increase or decrease the demand. When it comes to dairy which is pure exploitation, we need to understand what the ethical thing to do is and make the right choice.
Animal use is animal abuse because none of the animals that we use, wanted to be in the situation that they are in.
The romanticizing of milk as an expression of a cow’s contentment in being exploited by humans; of cows as willing, happy participants in their own exploitation, is entirely deleterious and self-serving.
Adding the word ‘ahimsa’ before milk, does not really take away the himsa, it simply takes away our guilt and makes us more comfortable to continue participating in the exploitation of cows and buffalos. Using a group of lactating mothers to steal their milk can never be ahimsa.
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About the author, Manasa
“I’m a vegan activist and an engineering student. I went vegan after understanding that nothing justifies subjecting animals to abuse. I’m sure together we can create a vegan world where animals are cared for and looked at as individuals. I have authored a book titled ‘Larry the House Lizard’ and I enjoy drawing and painting. You can check out my illustrations and contact me on Instagram @maan_artwork.”
Cover: Image by Ane_Hinds from Pixabay
