Cruelty is subjective, so I'll play the vegan's advocate here since I'm not vegan myself: Dairy cows are forcibly inseminated and then used for their milk way beyond the time period they normally would produce milk. In many parts of the world they are kept in conditions which are cruel, and they may also suffer physically from this treatment (infections etc). In essence, dairy animals are treated like machines rather than animals and very little concern is given to their well being rather than their profitability. Morality is, as always, subjective, but from a vegan perspective, this is unnecessary and cruel exploitation.
I'd also like to add that most vegans are not magically averse to meat or dairy as a product: they are mostly concerned with the industrial complex of producing animal products. I think most vegans would have no, or at least a lot less, problems with dairy production if it happened in a way where cows were treated very well and did not suffer in any way from having their milk taken (which would make milk prohibitively expensive, I assume).
> I think most vegans would have no, or at least a lot less, problems with dairy production if it happened in a way where cows were treated very well
What are you going to do with the cows after 5 years into their 20 year life span when they stop producing as much milk? I can't see any way you're going to make people against animal slaughter happy with the only practical option.
If you're going to approach every animal life as a profit calculation, completely ignoring the moral argument made by vegans, obviously the answer will always be what you expect it to be. There's no point in having an honest discussion if you phrase every question from your own assumptions of morality and practicality instead of asking open questions.
Also, I'm not a vegan so I'm not going to debate you on this.
I'd also like to add that most vegans are not magically averse to meat or dairy as a product: they are mostly concerned with the industrial complex of producing animal products. I think most vegans would have no, or at least a lot less, problems with dairy production if it happened in a way where cows were treated very well and did not suffer in any way from having their milk taken (which would make milk prohibitively expensive, I assume).