My consumed animals > Animals for milk, cheese, butter

There is no clear distinction between the dairy industry and the meat industry. The dairy industry kills millions of animals each year to be processed into meat.

Dairy cows are bred to have an extremely high milk yield. In addition, they must give birth to calves each year. Both drain the bodies of the cows so much that they are killed on average after 2.5 lactation periods and 4 years of life. The natural life expectancy is 20 years.

As with all mammals, a cow gives only milk for their newborn babies. To get the milk, the calves are separated from the mother. Since male calves cannot produce milk and were not bred for meat production, they are usually killed after a few days or weeks.

• Average annual milk consumption per non-vegan in Germany

• Milk cows killed for milk per year per non-vegan

• Calves taken away from mothers per non-vegan

Only a small proportion of "milk production" is consumed directly as milk (13%). 33% is processed into cheese, 30% to butter and the remainder to cream and milk powder.

The extrapolation of consumption over several years takes into account the historical development of average consumption. The individual average consumption can also be adjusted with regard to a subjectively experienced consumption pattern that differs from that of the average citizen.