If we could talk to the animals, learn their languages, maybe get an animal degree,
Some fun from Peter Singer:
The dairy cow, once seen peacefully, even idyllically, roaming the hills, is now a carefully monitored, fine-tuned milk machine. . . . Many dairy cows are reared indoors. Some are kept in individual pens with only enough room to stand up and lie down. Their environment is completely controlled: they are fed calculated amounts of feed, temperatures are adjusted to maximize milk yield, and lighting is artificially set. . . .
After her first calf is taken away, the cow's production cycle begins. She is milked twice, sometimes three times a day, for ten months. After the third month she will be made pregnant again. . . . Usually this intense cycle of pregnancy and hyperlactation can last only about five years, after which the "spent" cow is sent to slaughter to become hamburger or dog food.
In order to obtain the highest output, producers feed cows high-energy concentrates such as soybeans, fish meal, brewing byproducts, and even poultry manure. . . . Because her capacity to produce surpasses her ability to metabolize her feed, the cow begins to break down and use her own body tissues; she begins "milking off her own back."
-Animal Liberation, citing an article from New Scientist
The dairy cow, once seen peacefully, even idyllically, roaming the hills, is now a carefully monitored, fine-tuned milk machine. . . . Many dairy cows are reared indoors. Some are kept in individual pens with only enough room to stand up and lie down. Their environment is completely controlled: they are fed calculated amounts of feed, temperatures are adjusted to maximize milk yield, and lighting is artificially set. . . .
After her first calf is taken away, the cow's production cycle begins. She is milked twice, sometimes three times a day, for ten months. After the third month she will be made pregnant again. . . . Usually this intense cycle of pregnancy and hyperlactation can last only about five years, after which the "spent" cow is sent to slaughter to become hamburger or dog food.
In order to obtain the highest output, producers feed cows high-energy concentrates such as soybeans, fish meal, brewing byproducts, and even poultry manure. . . . Because her capacity to produce surpasses her ability to metabolize her feed, the cow begins to break down and use her own body tissues; she begins "milking off her own back."
-Animal Liberation, citing an article from New Scientist