I have a question for vegans (not vegetarians)?

Question

I know all of you don't eat meat, but also don't eat anything that comes from an animal in any way; like eggs and milk and so on.

I am curious as to the reason why.

I am not attacking you or your reasons in any way, you have the right to your beliefs. But the reason I ask is that generally the eggs that we eat were never fertilized, there was no baby chick or anything like that in there; only the yolk.

I do understand somewhat better on the milk, at least if its a moral issue. It is my understanding that you see milk as belonging only to the calf that needs it, and that makes sense. You don't want to take away from the needs of the calves.

Mostly its things like eggs, things that don't have any purpose for animals and aren't alive. Is there any other reason that you wouldn't go for things like that?

Thanks for any help for my understanding others' beliefs.

Answer 1

I'll put it really simply:

Cows have to be impregnated before they give milk.  If the offspring is male it is sold for veal.

Egg producers s*x chicks when they are about a day old.  If the chick is male, it is thrown into a trash bag, with a bunch of other male chicks, and left to suffocate.

Answer 2

I became a vegan, because I do not like the idea that a cow carries her baby for over 9 months. Than after giving birth, her child is taken away so quickly, so humans can have the milk versus the calf. Which later feed very poor lack foods so it can be a tender veal.

As a woman,(I am 31). When I have my child, I would never want any person, to take away my child. So I can not support a industry that uses that method dominantly. I understand there are farms that do not, but 90% (by tyson, cargrill, smithfield) of beef and dairy cows in this country are raised on intensive farming conditions.

Money is power. I use my money to support companies that are ethically inlined with my morals. I have a choice. I choose to not support an industry that cause so many cruelties. I also buy from companies that do not employee children in developing countries.

Answer 3

You're right about cows' milk being a product of theft from baby cows--not to mention, humans don't NEED milk of another species and certainly not after infancy.  But the cows are treated rather poorly, and when their production declines, they are slaughtered.  You should also know that there is a piece of veal in every glass of milk; the sons of dairy cows  usually wind up in the veal crates.  This is why vegans avoid milk.

When it comes to eggs, as Orange pointed out, it's not so much the eggs as how the hens are treated.  And the fact that baby male layer chicks are killed at birth since they naturally don't produce eggs, and they don't grow fast enough to be profitable as meat.  And of course, when production declines, hens are either "force-molted"--denied food and light for a period of up to two weeks to "reset" their laying cycle--or they are killed.  Because their bodies are so battered, their flesh is almost worthless.  The bodies of hens kept for their eggs wind up in nuggets or low-quality pot-pies.

Thank you for trying to understand.

Answer 4

Vegan here. On the egg question. It doesn't matter that the eggs were not fertilized. The hens that lay them live a horrible existence (free range or otherwise). Also it is my belief that the eggs are the properly of whom ever lays them. Same way that if you build a house, it is yours. You make honey, it is yours. You live in a tree, it is yours.

Answer 5

Dairy cows are treated horribly. I think their lives are actually much worse than those of cows that are destined for beef from the beginning.

They are confined in small spaces and they are artificially inseminated repeatedly. (so they can keep producing milk). Their calves are taken away from them when they are merely days old and the males are chained up and starved and they eventually become veal. The females will eventually end up like their mothers.

The young cows are often given growth hormones that make them SO big SO fast they cannot stand up under their own weight. The actual lifespan of a cow is around 20 years. If they are unfortunate enough to live on a dairy farm, it's reduced by more than half. And after all that abuse - laying in their own f***s, infected sores on their udders and having their calves taken from them - they still have the cruel and horrific slaughtering process to go through. Yep. Exhausted and "unusable" dairy cows eventually become fast food hamburgers.

I could go on, but I shouldn't.

THAT's why I don't want anything to do with dairy.

As far as the chickens are concerned, they are often housed in small wire cages. The cages are so small, they cannot turn around or extend their wings. They are stacked on top of one another - there's nowhere for them to go to the restroom besides on each other. Diseases spread quickly and they are often pumped with antibiotics in order to kill whatever illness is going around instead of the farmers being responsible and *cleaning*. Some of the chickens never see daylight. Some have been in the cages so long, their feet are attached to the wire. Male baby chicks are oftentimes ground alive or thrown into huge garbage bins (while alive), as they are useless to the farmers b/c they cannot lay eggs. I'm sure you've heard about them getting their beaks cut off so they don't peck each other...no anestesia.

While it might seem like some harmless "food", I see a lot of other atrocities that go on and those are the reasons I won't "go for things like that".

If I give my money towards such an industry, it will continue to thrive and I refuse to contribute to animal cruelty - be it directly or indirectly.

Cheers...and I hope I answered your questions.

*Granted, a lot of what has been described happens in huge factory farms, but those factory farms provide Amerians with a staggering amount of food. It's practically impossible to tell where the food came from, so yes...I paint the meat and dairy industry with a broad brush.

Answer 6

i don't eat eggs because your stealing  from the chicken what could of had

Answer 7

I don't eat eggs (or milk) because I don't like the way the animals are treated for it. I also don't find it natural to drink milk. If there was a farmer I knew that raised chickens for eggs (who was not cruel of course and let the chickens roam free) I might consider eating eggs, but only from that farmer (or olther kind farmers).

Answer 8

It not the eggs themselves that are the problem, it's how the hens are treated and the conditions are they are in. Even "free-range" eggs aren't much if any better because there's no regulation on free-range.

Answer 9

Thanks for being so nice about this question, we get a lot of bashers here.

Ok, well the milk thing my mum doesn't understand either. She's all "It doesn't hurt the cow!" But eventually it does, just not directly. You've got a good point with the calf thing, but veal calves are taken away from their mother very early and- ok. *breathes* I'm rambling. But think about it- we're the only species on earth that drinks another species milk. Gross. Plus it's full of pus and hormones and all that nasty stuff. For more info check out www.milksucks.com.

The eggs are not the direct problem, it's more the way the hens are treated. Stuffed into shoe-box sized cages and never aloud out. Cramped unhealthy conditions and stifling ammonia levels. I could go on and on. And seriously, the first dude had a point. Eggs are chicken's vaginal secretions/monthly cycle- need I say more? I think not.

:D

Answer 10

Thank you for asking this in a respectful way.

You're right that the eggs aren't fertilized. I don't have a problem with eggs themselves, but with the inhumane treatment of egg-laying hens. About 95% of the hens in the U.S. are confined to barren, wire "battery cages". These cages are so small and restrictive that the hens can't even flap their wings or engage in any of their natural behaviors. The crowded conditions can cause aggression. To prevent chickens from pecking each other to death, farmers slice off a portion of each chick's beak with a searing hot blade. This procedure causes extreme pain and suffering because birds' beaks have many nerve endings.

There's also the problem of the male chicks. Male chicks are useless to the egg industry because they don't produce eggs. So the male chicks are thrown into high-speed grinders while still alive or are suffocated in trash bags. These are standard killing methods even for "free-range” egg producers.

Also, I know a former organic egg farmer who told me that any hen's egg production declines dramatically at 15 months. It would just not be economically feasible to allow spent hens to "retire". (It would cost too much to feed and care for the chickens until their natural deaths.) So all commercially-raised egg-laying hens (including those on "free range" and organic farms) are slaughtered when their production rates decline.

More info:

http://www.chooseveg.com/eggs.asp

http://www.goveg.com/factoryFarming_chic...

Answer 11

Ironically beans are fertilized plant ovum, so ironically more killing is done by cooking beans.  Also male chicks are identified prior to egg hatching and disposed of, not usually killed after hatching.  Also, it is continuous stimulation that allows cow to make milk, not continuous birth, so its not like milk is make by starving baby cows (good veal is only milk fed after all).  By finding small farmers who practice proper animal husbandry, and not buying from big factory feed lots, we can all do our part in ensuring proper treatment of animals, and live long, healthy, happy lives enjoying mother natures bounty, rather than just playing to the soy bean lobby (an already subsidized crop).