Is Your Ice Cream Cone Dripping With Blood?

A vegan’s ice cream cone isn’t dripping with blood. Is yours? If it is made with cow’s milk it is. Dairy products are dripping with blood both figuratively and literally.

First we’ll talk figuratively. If you think that animals are not harmed in the production of milk and other dairy products you are dead wrong. The average lifespan of a normal cow can be 25 years. A female cow in a dry lot dairy farm with her body being so stressed from continuous pregnancy reaches near collapse in about 6 years. For this reason they are slaughtered at 5 years. After 5 years of overwhelming physical stress it is common for the cows to collapse on the way to slaughter. These cows are lovingly referred to by the folks in the industry as “downers”. Don’t worry though, if she can’t make the walk a downer cow will be dragged to her death.

Catch that drip. Your ice cream is melting.

The consumption of dairy products is an approval for needless suffering and murder just as much as eating meat is. Here is another reason; half of the calves born on a dairy farm are males. These males are considered to be byproducts of the dairy industry. The calves are dramatically separated from their mothers after about a day or so. The mothers are left to roam the feces encrusted mud lot, wailing and searching desperately for their lost children. The calves are locked inside of 22 x 54 inch veal crates. Veal crates are designed to minimize the development of the calf’s muscles in order to produce tender meat. Veal calves will never be able to turn around or even lie down completely. The calves are fed a high fat liquid diet. They are deprived of water in order to force them to consume larger quantities of the liquid feed. Veal farmers are notorious for feeding the calves a diet lacking iron in order to induce anemia. The farmers will deny this but in the same breath they will point out that good veal meat will be whiter in color due to the lack of iron in the tissue.

After a few weeks of being locked inside of the veal crates the little calves finally get their first chance to walk. With weak undeveloped muscles these first steps will be challenging but the farmers will be there for support. With painful electric prods the farmers will help them make the walk to the slaughterhouse trucks. Then the truckload of frail and terrified baby cows will be taken off to be murdered swiftly and violently.

That ice cream cone is dripping again. Oops, you have some blood on your hands.

Now let’s talk literally. The female cows in dairy production suffer through what is known in the dairy industry as “freshening.” In freshening the cows are taken to a device that is commonly known as the rape rack where they are artificially inseminated. Artificial insemination is a nice way of saying that they have bull semen forced into their vaginas. The cows are freshened two months after giving birth to keep them in a constant state of lactation. The disgusting conditions in which these cows are forced to live combined with the constant strain of being hooked up to painful milking machines leads to the fact that almost half of all dairy cows suffer mastitis. Mastitis is a painful infection of the mammary glands. Due to the infection, their irritated and swollen udders excrete blood and puss as well as milk. With nearly half of all dairy cows suffering with this particular infection, it is a fact that a lot of blood and puss end up in your dairy products.

Your ice cream is still dripping. Aren’t you going to lick it?

Vegan ice cream cones contain no figurative or literal blood. They can be made from a variety of plant sources like rice, soy, coconut, or hemp. Oh, and they are delicious! Bowls of cereal, cream cheese on bagels, macaroni and cheese, and pizzas all taste better without blood in them. Try it!

Dairy is murder. You have choices. Choose vegan.

Written by VeganTHIS