(Photo: Alma)
Hypothetical: We breed a species of cow smart enough to consent to a contract. It agrees to give us milk. Is this milk now vegan?
— Zach Weinersmith (@ZachWeiner) August 13, 2014Zach Weinersmith, the webcomic artist responsible for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, offers this original ethical question. Vegetarians eschew meat for various reasons, often to avoid harming animals. Vegans often take this perspective even further by using nothing which exploits an animal. So a vegan may choose to not drink milk or use sheep wool because those are products extracted from animals, even though the animals are not killed.
How would you answer Zach's question?
I'm not vegan. But from what I am aware, vegans primarily don't drink milk because of the whole veal thing.
If a cow had a choice, I doubt it would choose yes. I'm sure they love their offspring as much as most/all animals do.
If they said it was OK... I guess it would be OK. But that would seem kind of sociopathic wouldn't it?
Another thought. It's illegal to eat a person, even if they say it's OK. But is it ETHICALLY wrong?
Thank you! Me too.
... They're still tasty though. :)
I believe cows are already sentient, and intelligent enough to make their own choices to some degree. If it runs away and we have to capture it, it is a prisoner and slave.
http://videosift.com/video/Amazing-HighTech-Cow-Milking-Farm-How-It-s-Made-Milk