$JES 901 Jainism and Spiritual Awakening E9

Author(s): JAINA Education Committee
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

Page 94

15-JAIN WAY OF LIFE AND ETHICAL LIVING AND ENVIRONMENT
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Every mother produces just enough milk for her baby and she does not produce any excess milk for anyone else to
consume.
So, any milk we use is stolen from mother cows, which was meant for her calves.
The following list summarizes some of the violence (Himsä) inflicted on animals used in the production of dairy products. These problems exist in the large factory farms of the U.S. and Europe, as well as in the small dairy farms in India (or anywhere else in the world). I speak from experience; I have visited several large dairy farms in USA and many small dairy farms in India and observed these practices:
Milk producing cows are kept pregnant all the time. They may be subject to artificial insemination and other practices that ensure the maximum production of milk.
Approximately 80% of baby calves are sold to the veal or beef industry, where they are slaughtered between the ages of six months to three years in the west. Sometimes, farmers let the male calf die of hunger as practiced in several villages in India (I have observed this practice in our holy city of Palitänä).
Milk cows are sold to slaughterhouses at five to six years of age when their milk production yield drops more than 30% (this is true in India more than 95% of the time). The life expectancy of a dairy cow is 15 to 20 years.
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