While some meat-eaters may not want to admit it (or hear about it), it is largely understood that the process that brings beef to our supermarkets involves harming cows. There are plenty of people who are not vegetarian who understand why someone might not want to eat cows: after all, they are sentient beings who deserve a happy life as much as we do. 

Many of us, however, continue to consume dairy believing that the cows aren’t killed for milk or cheese, so it must be okay. I myself once believed this myth, thinking that if the animal doesn’t have to die to “give” milk, what could possibly be the issue.

The truth is dairy cows lead horrible lives, filled with grief, pain, and suffering.  Not only does the dairy industry fuel the veal industry, but the dairy cow herself is ultimately slaughtered as well. With all this in mind, we have to ask ourselves, “Is there more cruelty in a glass of milk or a pound of beef?”

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

The Life of a “Beef” Cow

Birth

Cows raised for beef are separated from their mothers at a young age, though not as soon as dairy cows and veal calves. According to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, “the major priority in beef production is to produce as many calves as possible.”

This means calves are weaned around the age of seven to eight months, which gives the mother cow time to “regain condition after weaning.”

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Lifespan  

While cows can live up to 25 years, cows raised for beef are generally slaughtered between one and three years of age.

For the first six months of the beef cow’s life, he (or she) spends his time in the pasture. According to the ASPCA, cows are the only factory-farmed animal who still spend some time outdoors. After this period of six months (sometimes cows get up to a year), the cow is then moved to a feedlot with hundreds or thousands of other cows. Here their diet changes to one of mostly grain, which can cause digestive issues, pain, and even death. The beef steer/cow will stay here until they reach slaughter weight.

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Babies

With the exception of breeding cows, most cows destined to become beef are not bred, so they are spared the pain of losing their children.

Treatment

There are many common industry practices that factory farms use that would be considered animal abuse if carried out on domestic animals. Here are a few cows raised for beef are subjected to.

Male calves are castrated at a young age, “to improve meat quality.” Some of the methods used to castrate them include surgically removing testicles with a scalpel, “crushing spermatic cords with a clamp, and constricting blood flow to the scrotum until testicles die and fall off.” Regardless of the method used, pain relief is rarely provided and the steer is in pain for several days.

In addition to castration, cows are subjected to branding. The branding iron is 950 degrees Fahrenheit and pressed against the cow’s skin for several seconds while he is held to the ground. Painkillers are not provided during this procedure either.

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Death

After about one year of life, anywhere up to three years, the cow can be sent to slaughter. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act requires that livestock be rendered insensible to pain before they are shackled and their throats are slit. “Acceptable” methods for rendering the animal unconscious include “forcefully striking the animal on the forehead with a bolt gun or properly placing electrical shocks.” Sadly, many undercover investigations show that this requirement is often overlooked as many cows are still conscious when killed.

The Life of a Dairy Cow

Birth

When a dairy cow is born, she is taken from her mother within 24 hours, if not immediately. The primary reason she does not stay with her mother is so that she does not drink up all the farmer’s profit (e.g. her mother’s milk). That milk is for humans, after all, and if left to her own devices, she’d suck it all down.

Jo-Anne McArthur/ We Animals

Lifespan

Just like beef cows, dairy cows naturally would live about 18 to 22 years, though there are plenty who live well into their twenties. While a beef cow’s life is cut short around four months, a dairy cow’s life ends around five years of age.

Babies 

In order to “give milk,” a dairy cow must be artificially inseminated because just like humans, she will not produce milk if there isn’t a baby to feed. While many say that cows only need to be pregnant once, the fact remains that in modern factory farming they are inseminated every year in order to keep milk production as high as possible, not to mention the industry also profits from their babies.

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Treatment

Also like humans, the gestation period of a dairy cow is nine months. She is milked throughout most of her pregnancy and when she gives birth, her baby will be taken from her, just as she was taken from her own mother. If her calf is a boy, he will be chained to a crate for a maximum of 16 weeks before being slaughtered for veal. If her calf is a girl, she will become a dairy cow and the cycle will continue.

After her baby is taken from her, the dairy cow is hooked up to machines for milking. According to the ASPCA, the average “dairy cows each produce about 100 pounds of milk per day — 10 times more than cows living just a few decades ago. This is due to bovine growth hormones, unnatural diets, and being bred selectively for massive milk production.”

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

Cows are maternal creatures. They will spend hours after their baby is born licking and tending to them, if given the chance. When their babies are pulled, often dragged away from them, they often bellow for days.

One cruel practice that many dairy cows face is having their tail surgically removed without painkillers. It’s believed that doing so keeps the udder clean, but this myth has been disproven.

Cows are also dehorned, a process in which the farmer will cut or burned off the horns. Again, no painkillers are provided.

Death

Many avoid beef because the animal has to be slaughtered, but continue to drink milk because we believe it to be a benign product. It’s true that a dairy cow doesn’t have to be killed to produce milk, but she doesn’t exactly go to a retirement community at the end of her production period. After about five years, a cow’s milk supply begins to dwindle and she is no longer as profitable as her younger peers. So what does a farmer do? He or she slaughters her. Yes, a dairy cow’s life ends in slaughter, just as the beef cow’s does.

Jo-Anne McArthur/We Animals

So in the end, the dairy cow is slaughtered too. Given how much longer the dairy cow lives, and that cows raised for beef do not have their babies stolen from them every year: it would seem, in fact, there is more cruelty in a glass of milk. That is not to say the suffering of beef cows is insignificant, we now understand the pain endured in their lives. However, it’s time attention is also paid to the plight of the dairy cow. She too is suffering and we have the power to stop it. All we have to do is put down the glass of milk.

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