My non-vegan past of exploiting animals

In my past, before I started to live as a vegan, I could eat a piece of meat and thus ignore the suffering, exploitation of death of the nonhuman victims.

I could drink a glass of milk, and thus ignore/be unaware of that I destroyed a family of cows, that I tore a calf away from her mother, and that the male calves and milk cows (when their productive declined) eventually ended up on the slaughter house.
In my past I could kill a mosquito and thus ignore/be unaware of that I killed a living sentient being.

I could catch a fish in the ocean, ignore/be unaware of the enormous suffering that I was causing, and that I was taking the life of a sentient being with an interest of living.

I could eat an egg and not caring/be unaware of that chickens were exploited, bred to be our resources, their families were destroyed, their male chicks were killed, and they ended up on the slaughter house when their productivity declined.
In my past I could wear leather and ignore/be unaware of that this leather came from a sentient cow, that was exploited to become my shoes and my wallet. I could wear wool and ignore/be unaware of that the sheep used for wool was exploited for this purpose and eventually killed.

I could visit a zoo and not caring/be unaware of that this was a prison of sentient beings, with an interest of freedom, being exploited for entertainment, and that many of the animals in the zoo were killed to be replaced by other animals – all for the sake of our entertainment.
In my past I could attend a circus ignoring/be unaware of that these animals were exploited for my entertainment, that their lives were control and freedom ignored.

I could buy a dog from a breeder, disregarding the interests of the animals, and paying for her to be ripped away from her precious mother and family; and paying for that animals should be breed up to a live that would be unnatural to them, where the are to a large extent controlled/limited by their owner (e.g. what to eat, when and where to go out, etc.).
In my past I could justify vivisection and claim that our lives are more valuable than theirs, exploiting and shortening the lives of other animals so that humans should find cures to live longer.

I could use and exploit animals in various other ways, treating them as my resources/property and ignoring their interests, instead of respecting them as sentient beings and respecting their interests.
Then I woke up. I became aware. I decided that I don’t want to be a part of exploiting, harming and killing sentient beings. I realized that I have to leave behind my egoistic and self-centered ego that could justify exploiting animals for convenience, pleasure, tradition or justifying it with other various excuses; and I decided to live a life of nonviolence and justice. I decided to stop victimizing and bullying other animals. I rejected speciesism and chose to be vegan.
Now I realize how many lives I have murdered, how many families that I have destroyed, how many animals that I have exploited and harmed. I am truly and sincerely sorry and regretful for all of the harm that I have caused others.

Dairy cows get impregnated without their consent

We should be gagging on our organic Greek yogurt. Consider this image of a man with an arm shoved up a dairy cow’s rectum with a probe on the end, looking at a computer monitor to determine when it is best to impregnate her, while her head is locked in a restraint. Our deplorable behavior toward other animals would be considered rape, if the subject were another human being (the law defines rape as penetration without consent and animals of course cannot give their consent). But because she is “just an animal,” we claim our rape is suddenly justifiable? And when rape is performed for economic reasons, it’s suddenly acceptable? And because we use technology and gadgetry to control female reproduction, it’s suddenly an advance instead of an offense? This is cruelty, arrogance, hypocrisy, prejudice and faulty logic.

Learn all about how dairy cows are forcibly impregnated, what animal agriculture euphemistically calls “artificial insemination,” at http://freefromharm.org/animal-cruelty-investigation/the-sexual-violation-of-dairy-cows-14-step-process-of-artificial-insemination/

image source: http://www.extension.org/pages/15689/when-to-pregnancy-check-dairy-cattle-and-why#.U2MBmK1dXkY

..Shared from Robert Gillo

Animals suffer in the production of dairy products. Is this morally justifiable?

Feel free to discuss:
1.Do you believe it is wrong to harm and kill animals when there is no legitimate reason for you to do this? And that pleasure/convenience/tradition aren't legitimate reasons for harming animals?

2. Given that we have no nutritonal need for animal foods - can the following suffering and death that animals used for dairy products go through - be justified?:

"Female cows used for dairy get slaughtered for their flesh so continuing to consume dairy is arbitrary and means you are still directly supporting animal slaughter.

Male calves will not produce milk so they are worthless to the dairy industry so they are removed from their mothers so they do not consume their mother’s milk and slaughtered for their flesh (veal). The dairy industry is the veal industry.

Female calves are removed from their mothers so they do not consume their mother’s milk and raised to become a cow used for dairy or slaughtered for their flesh."

More to learn here: http://www.abolitionistvegansociety.org/tavs-initiatives/tavs-articles/how-to-go-vegan/should-i-go-vegan-by-adopting-a-vegetarian-diet-first/#.UxtCGoWHh2g

“The very saddest sound in all my memory was burned into my awareness at age five on my uncle’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. A cow had given birth to a beautiful male calf…On the second day after birth, my uncle took the calf from the mother and placed him in the veal pen in the barn—only ten yards away, in plain view of his mother. The mother cow could see her infant, smell him, hear him, but could not touch him, comfort him, or nurse him. The heartrending bellows that she poured forth—minute after minute, hour after hour, for five long days—were excruciating to listen to. They are the most poignant and painful auditory memories I carry in my brain.” Michael Klaper, M.D.

Humans can live and thrive on a vegan diet: http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2013/08/humans-can-live-and-thrive-on-healthy.html

3. Do you think any animal use can be justified? What animal use?

Please also provide your arguments.