To get milk from a cow it must either be or have recently been pregnant. It's the same with women. Nature intends the milk for the resulting calf, but as we want it for ourselves we must separate the calf from its mother. Even if you just farm on a very small, compassionate, organic basis with a single cow you can't avoid that fact. Separation is usually done after just a few hours. Cattle are intelligent creatures and there is a strong bond between mother and calf. Anyone who has ever lived in the countryside may have heard the unpleasant sound of a field full of cattle crying out for their lost calves.
What happens to the calf next depends on whether it is male or female. Ask yourself how often do we see male cows (bulls) out in our fields? Very rarely. Is there a reason for this??
Female calves will be allowed to grow up into the next generation of milk producers, but males are a lot less useful. They are either killed within weeks of being born or raised in the particularly cruel veal system. Very few are given the chance to grow into bulls, which are really only needed for breeding.
Over time, breeding driven by the desire for increased milk productivity has led to today's dairy cow leading a most unnatural life. They produce FAR more milk than Nature ever intended them to, and are susceptible to a whole range of diseases and aliments. Click here for a more detailed page about the life of the dairy cow (I can barely bear to read bits of it). It is interesting to contrast this page with the Dairy Council one mentioned above.
It's a similar story in the egg industry. How often do we see male hens (cockerels)? Very rarely, because at the hatchery the useless male chicks are separated out from the females and killed immediately.
It really pisses me off when these industries portray their products as “natural”. Clearly nothing is further from the truth. Cow's milk is meant for calves and it is both unnatural and unnecessary that humans drink it.