Why do vegetarians not eat meat, but still eat eggs & cheese which result in just as much animal slaughter?

People are quick to think they are doing the right thing by not eating meat but there is a lot of pain and suffering to get eggs and milk... When I was a vegetarian and not yet vegan I stopped eating all meat and only ate local or proven organic eggs and milk. That quickly became too hard to mentally accept and I became vegan. Sometimes it gets hard to not eat any animal products, it takes a lot of knowledge and discipline to ensure I am only consuming plants. Some of the products which I thought were vegan are not always: sugar, beer/wine, "veggie" cheese... People who are eating animal products such as eggs and milk and saying that the animals are still living so it is okay need a slap on the back of the head. Is it more cruel to murder a cow or torture it for years to come to the same result... cruelty, suffering, pain, and ultimately inhumane death??

The world is full of grey moral questions eating eggs and dairy does cause less harm than meat. Ultimately it is the choice of the lesser evil.

I think the biggest cause of this is lack of knowledge. I've been a vegetarian for 5 years now, and I turned veggie because I didn't wanna the animals to have to suffer for my food. It just didn't occur to me that the animals in the dairy and egg industry were treated just as badly, I thought it was cruelty free to continue having dairy and eggs. I only found out recently how bad the industry is, and now I am going vegan - I wish I had found out sooner though. But I think many vegetarians just don't realise just how cruel the dairy and egg industry is, and I was one of them until recently. Or, some may just not want to go fully vegan because it is so difficult, but may still want to contribute to helping animals a little bit so they decide to be vegetarian instead. At least they are still helping somewhat.

YOu need to do your research better. Eggs that we eat - that are sold in the stores are NOT fertilized - so there are no baby chicks. Chickens lay eggs all the time, whether they are fertilized or not. The chickens that lay eggs to be eaten are kept away from roosters so the eggs will not be fertilized. Milk that is for human consumption IS processed by cows. Diary farms raise milk cows - who DO produce milk year round, not for baby cows. Diary farms do not give any baby cows to farms or factories to produce veal - you really need to do your homework before you spout your inaccuracies!

Ignorance, plain and simple. In your question details, you list exactly how cruel eggs and dairy are, yet the first two people to reply basically said, "HURR DURR BUT U DUN KIL DEM 2 GET DOSE TINGS DURRR." Even when you LITERALLY SPELL IT OUT FOR THEM they still choose to remain ignorant. All you can do is provide information, and if others choose to read it then great. If not, you've done all you can...after all, you can't MAKE people think things :)

ok.. cheese is made from milk. Cows have to be milked at least twice a day or they can die. so not sure that logic there. Eggs I agree with. ( kinda ) I hear there is a difference between Vegans and Vegetarians but I eat meat so I don't know.

I don't think you have to kill the cows and chickens to get the milk and eggs. You might be doing it wrong.

I was vegetarian for a few years before I became vegan. This was because I had allowed myself to remain unaware of what exactly goes on in the milk and egg industries. Eg, male chicks being killed in horrific ways. I started wondering about it one day, and when I found out I decided I had to become vegan. It was just as horrific to me as the meat industry. * and to Shannon: The only reason cows have to be milked by humans is because their calves have been taken away from them. The cows make milk for their calves to drink, not for humans to drink. If the calves were left with their mother, there would be no need for humans to milk her. Think of it with other animals: humans don't have to milk cats for example, as their kittens are with them, and the kittens drink the milk. Once the kittens don't need it any more (stop suckling) the milk stops being produced. The same would happen with cows if they were left alone.

Well, eating vegetables also results in animal slaughter, simply because so many animals are destroyed when the fields are prepared and harvested. You wouldn't suggest that people avoid eating plants because the other parts of the agricultural industry also result in mass slaughter, would you? No, of course not. Killing animals is not necessary to get plants. The same goes for eggs and dairy. If a person chooses to eat milk and eggs, they are specifically paying for animals to live, as opposed to people who eat meat, who are specifically paying for animals to die. As for your supporting evidence, you do make some good points, but they aren't universally applicable. Battery farms are hideous. I agree with that. Even without the male chicks being killed, they are horrible and nobody who claims to care about animal welfare would support them. However, not all eggs come from battery farms. The eggs in my fridge right now come from a student's backyard flock. There aren't any males, so there are obviously no chicks, ever. As for dairy, rennet is not present in all cheeses. It's quite simple to find rennetless cheeses. You just have to read the label, just as you would to make sure a dairy-free cheese is actually vegan. If it's vague, skip it, or check the list at Joyous Living to find out. As for veal, that one is also tricky. Some small farms choose to not ship their calves off, but instead raise them on the farm in a more sustainable way. Others, if the specific breed of cow does well on pasture, will pass them off to be raised into beef. Again, when a person buys eggs and dairy, they are specifically paying for animals to be alive rather than be killed. If you are willing to do your reseach, it's really not that difficult to find sustainable sources that don't involve bumping off babies.