There are so many things wrong with the dairy industry, but let's start from an ethical point of view. People say that they are against animal abuse, but refuse to notice or acknowledge that they still pay for the abuse and exploitation of other species.
The dairy industry is very cruel! It's important to mention that cows aren't milk machines. They don't have milk, unless they are pregnant and have just given birth. So in order for the industry to make profit of them dairy farm workers artificially inseminate the cow. In other words cows get impregnated against their will, which is by definition rape. This happens to them multiple times throughout their lives. Their baby cows who are then born as the result of this cruel cycle get taken away from them within 24 hours after birth. They are kept separately from their mothers, while humans take the milk that baby cow is supposed to grow up on away from them. Of course once the baby cows are at that age they will be put through the same cycle as their mothers. Oh and the male calves are usually killed on the same day they are born, since they are useless to the industry. When the industry can't use them for their milk anymore, they get sent to the slaughterhouse. So after a life of unnecessary exploitation they end up at the same place as the animals from the meat industry do.
Not to mention dairy farm workers kick them and drag their bodies on the ground if the cows refuse to cooperate, So they often develop painful diseases that are not taken care of, therefore sometimes cows are unable to walk up even just stand up. This is also because of how they are bred. Cows in this industry are bred to grow an unnatural amount in very little time. The average lifespan of a cow is 15 to even 20 years, but cows trapped in the dairy industry are killed within 4-5 years of their life, usually when they are not good enough to the industry anymore.
I mentioned the environmental side of all this in my previous post. The dairy industry damages the planet and environment in many different ways like greenhouse gas emissions, land damage, burning down forests (like the Amazon rainforest) to make space for livestock and huge amounts of water usage.
Labels like grass fed etc don't really mean or change anything in terms of what the cows go through. It is just another way the dairy industry tries to make you feel good about your decision to keep supporting them with your money. By continuing to buy the products the customers show demand.
If you are still hanging on to the idea that humans should consume the milk of another species, just think about how weird it is that when you were a baby you drank your mom's breastmilk and as an adult you take away another animal's milk. Just throwing it out there that it is unnecessary because you don't need it to survive. It's for the baby cow not for grown humans. There are alternatives that are better for your health, the environment and the animals as well. Three positives in one package, not many negative consequences just so you can have milk in your coffee and cheese on your pizza.
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