Fifteen years ago, my wife and chose a vegetarian diet for ethical reasons (how could we in good conscience oppose hunting or trapping wildlife, while still eating factory-farmed animals?) Within weeks, we quit dairy as well, after reading an article like this one.
I read an article today about the bond between cow and newborn calf and how it is severed so quickly after the calf’s birth so humans can have milk and meat.
We need to stop and think about where our food comes from and if we really want to continue to support these practices.
As the writer says, we just accept what our families and culture tell us as the way it is. We need to ask more questions.
Here is the article:
Look at the video-it is sad.
If a female, the calf will have the same destiny as her mother and if male, the calf will become meat for humans. Veal is a particularly sad fate for a male calf.
Let’s stop this cycle. Being vegetarian isn’t enough-become vegan!
Exposing the Big Game 
Heartbreaking. I gave up all animal products last year because of reasons like this.
True story of a mother cow’s intelligence, memory, bond with her children by Holly Cheever, vet: http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/04/13/cow-proves-animals-love-think-and-act/
Pingback: The Loving Bond of Cows and their Calves | GarryRogers Nature Conservation
I’ve heard this mentioned, the bond between mother and calf by people who raise them. Humans are so arrogant to think that they are the only creature who have these bonds.
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/brightside-farm-sanctuary-pigs/
I wasn’t sure where to post this, but this seemed as good a place as any. It is remarkable – this mother pig rescued from a slaughterhouse did not forget her natural behaviours, and looks happy and content. We are disgusting creatures to deprive animals of their natural freedoms.