The ancient Jain scriptural aphorism Parasparopagraho jivanan (All life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence) support this and that we different species do share resources and capacity naturally together

In all the transactions we do as humans their is always himsa (violence) from everything to breathing to walking to eating plant food. The trick is to minimise this rather then have absolutes. The current way of farming is
at the highest level of himsa (forced death) and that why striving towards veganism is the Jain answer

If I was living a hundred years ago and consumed milk from a farm, where a cow produced excess milk, gave dung from growing crops and leather from the skin once the animal had naturally passed away and also used the bulls (without overburden) for farming benefit (just like we use our bodies for labour) then a need for being a vegan would not exist.

There is talk of an experiment in the production of Ahimsa milk in the UK. A summary of this new idea is that calves are sent to sanctuaries and the mother cow retired at the end of her productive life to another sanctuary.

It seems that the relationship between cow and calf has been overlooked as well as the need for the retired cow to have the company of her peers with whom she has toiled for on average 4.5 years in this country.

I know without a doubt that ahimsa milk CAN be produced for those who feel the need for cows milk in their diets, but it’s costly. As most vegetarians do not respect this fact and see milk as a food basic – I wonder how many would accept that places like Bhaktivedanta Manor who “dairy” know that it costs in excess of £3.00 a litre to produce.

I liked your conclusion

“It’s a complete waste,” says Jones, who has 750 head of cattle near the village of Plaistow, south of London, and will kill all his 150 bull calves this year. “They keep telling us food is in short supply, and we keep killing healthy cows because there is no market for them. It’s madness.”

Solutions
What do you think of this? In my opinion, the best would be if they were not produced in the first place since they are brought into this world as a byproduct, and many are shot straight after and disposed of.

However, given that there is a demand for milk, should we be encouraging meat eaters to eat veal? Or is there no difference between this and them being shot at birth?

The quote from the cattle farmer makes it very clear what they are “concerned” about – it’s not the healthy animals they’re killing that worries them (being shot in the head at birth is a lot less painful than being cooped up in a veal crate and then having their throats cut, let alone the miserable life the dairy cow has to endure before she is
transported hundreds of miles to wait in line with other worn out mothers at the slaughterhouse – or in poorer societies turfed out into the street to get run over or starve to death).

Encouraging meat eaters to eat veal would delight the dairy farmers because it would make the misery they inflict on the dairy cows even more profitable because they could sell the unwanted calves as well as the blood and pus laden milk industry they are a waste product of.

This is the same as wearing leather shoes as it helps the slaughterhouses stay profitable.

Conclusion – The only way to stop this kind of thing is simply to stop it – full stop.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7594625.stm

I hope to hear from them soon

Heena

Thank you for your letter regarding the treatment of dairy cows in India. As Secretary of the European Parliament’s all party Animal Welfare Intergroup and Vice-President of the League Against Cruel Sports, animal welfare is an issue which I take very seriously.

There is unfortunately very little the European Parliament can do about the treatment of dairy cows in India and the United States as the European Union has no jurisdiction in these areas. I have however brought this situation to the attention of my colleagues Neena Gill MEP, Chairwoman of the India Delegation and Peter Skinner MEP, a member of the Delegations for Relations with the United States.

In the meantime, I would advise you to continue to raise awareness within the diary farming communities in India and the United States, encouraging farmers that well treated dairy cows will have better yield over a longer period of time.

Please know that I will continue to work for improvements in animal welfare across the European Union.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Evans MEP
Labour Party Member of the European Parliament