Hi Matt,
I hope this finds you well. Thanks for your query as to whether there is more harm and death in dairy, eggs and other animal products, than if one just consumed flesh alone. If one does research the evidence is very clear there is. There is no paucity of information online. I invite everyone to please view the link i provided from Peaceful Prairie for information. "The Free Range Myth"
http://www.peacefulprairie.org/freerange1.html
There reality is, there is no morally significant distinction between flesh and other animal products. Animals used in dairy are generally kept alive longer than those used for meat, are treated every bit as badly if not worse, and end up in the same slaughterhouse. Moreover, the slaughter of animals for meat and the dairy industry are inextricably intertwined in that there would be no veal industry without the dairy industry and dairy cows are all slaughtered and consumed.
As someone said to me, if there were forced to choose between eating a steak or drinking milk and they would make the decision solely on the basis of suffering, so they would choose the steak. To promote vegetarianism rather than veganism is similar to—and as nonsensical as—promoting eating the meat from spotted cows rather than the meat from cows without spots.
As an advocate said, "when we promote this artificial distinction, it is even more difficult for someone who gives up flesh to go vegan because she sees no reason to. As often as I have heard animal advocates urge that we should promote vegetarianism rather than veganism, I have heard vegans say that they remained vegetarians for many years before going vegan because they believed that they were being “compassionate” and acting morally, and were discharging their moral obligations to animals by not eating flesh but eating dairy products."
Donald Watson, who founded The Vegan Society in 1944 and who lived a healthy, active life until passing on in 2005, maintained that dairy products, such as milk, eggs, and cheese, were every bit as cruel and exploitative of sentient animal life as was slaughtering animals for their flesh: “The unquestionable cruelty associated with the production of dairy produce has made it clear that lacto-vegetarianism is but a half-way house between flesh-eating and a truly humane, civilised diet, and we think, therefore, that during our life on earth we should try to evolve sufficiently to make the ‘full journey.’” He also avoided wearing leather, wool or silk and used a fork, rather than a spade in his gardening to avoid killing worms. We should instill in others the reverence for life that Donald Watson had and that he passed on to us.
Thanks for your listening and for your consideration.
