To partake in dairy consumption on the grounds that it, unlike meat consumption, does not involve the mishandling, nor death of animals is erroneous. .The milk supply is largely in the hands of large corporations. For a dairy cow this means: concrete stalls, slatted metal floors, de-horning (95% of dairies de-horn their cows: most common removal methods involve scooping, gouging, or cutting the horns from the cow's head [1]), constant forced pregnancy, movement deprivation, babies who are taken away at birth, and resulting tension, nervousness and hyperactivity which results in the administration of tranquilizers. (2) The daughters of dairy cows will live a life like hers, the sons will be "made" into veal.

To keep milk yields as high as possible, two main practices are employed: 1) Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) is administered to cows via daily injections, and 2) the modern dairy cow is almost constantly pregnant. Dairy cows have just two to three months to recover from the birth of a calf before they are again artificially inseminated. (3) Pregnancy complications cause nearly one in every five health-related deaths in cows. (4) She will be milked twice, sometimes three times a day, for ten months, with a reprieve that lasts only about six or eight weeks (right before her next calf is due). (5) Milking resumes as soon as the calf is removed:. This intense cycle of pregnancy and hyper-lactation can last only about four or five years, after which the "spent" cow is sent to slaughter to become hamburger or dog food.

In 1967, a typical cow produced less than 9000 pounds of milk per year. Today, a cow averages close to 16000 pounds of milk. (6)

Mastitis (a painful inflammation of the mammary gland) afflicts more than one in five cows. (7) Different variables contribute to its onset, all productivity related. Firstly, to be hooked up to milking machines, the udder has to be free of hair and this is achieved by burning away udder hair with a blowtorch, which can result in mistakes and burns (providing an ideal setting for infection). Secondly, Veterinarian N. Bruce Haynes writes that malfunctioning milk machines on US dairies are "…a constant source of udder injury leading to a high incidence of clinical mastitis." (8) Thirdly, in one trial, over half of the cows given BGH were treated for mastitis compared to none in a control group receiving no BGH. (9) This is due to increased productivity and udder enlargement.

In addition to the soreness, the unnatural productivity requires an even richer diet, which, along with confinement results in the suffering from still more illnesses.

Producers feed cows high-energy concentrates such as soybeans, fish meal, brewing byproducts, and even poultry manure. The cow's peculiar digestive system cannot adequately process this food. One of the largest milk factories boasts of an advance that "allows one worker to feed 800 calves in 45 min - a job that ordinarily might take several men all day." (10) Under natural conditions a cow lives 20 to 25 years, whereas with the unbelievable conditions of today's' dairy factories, she is lucky to see her 5th birthday. (11)

At the ripe old age of 5 , cows are sent to slaughter and replaced with younger cows. Breeding high-yielding milk cows has created animals prone to deficiency diseases, but since animals unable to stand can legally be slaughtered for human food as long as they are still breathing when they arrive at the slaughterhouse, the flesh from dairy cows ends up as fast-food hamburgers and other cheaper ground-meat products.