The idea is that the processes used to gather milk, eggs, honey, etc. are also a form of torture or at least are cruel. For instance: the machines they use to draw cow milk damage the udder and consequently blood and puss is commonly mixed in with drawn milk. Supposedly.
I can respect that view in regards to milk, since I have similarly heard that milking can be strenuous on cows in some dairy farms (not all, or probably even most, but some).
And infections on udders do happen. pusillanimous individual milk is surprisingly common, and apparantly it's more so in the States.
But for the most part organic dairy farming is entirely safe and not at all uncomfortable for the animals involved.
In many organic farms dairy cows are left to graze freely and they learn to walk themselves to automatic milking tanks a few times a day, at their own pace.
The only thing even close to cruel in this situation is that dairy cows have to be regularly bred, so that they begin to produce more milk. But in reality this is nothing out of the ordinary anyway. It's probably safer for them to be artificially-inseminated by men than it is to let a rowdy bull at them, who can injure potential mates (or even themselves).
And beyond that example there are no other farming situations I can think of that harm animals.
Chickens lay eggs every single day, naturally. They would do it regardless of whether or not a farmer was picking up the egg.
Bees produce honey and beeswax to survive, and it's only because they become so efficient and productive while being farmed that farmers are able to siphon off the excess they produce.
I know that there are cheap/fast farms where the care for animals isn't provided, and animals may be unnecessarily beefed up on steroids and hormones, and chickens can be crammed into small cages or bred to have no feathers.
But if that is an issue you want to tackle then boycotting your intake of those animals and their derivatives doesn't help. People are going to eat meat and animal products regardless.
If you want to change that system of cheap/fast, then you have to be proactive in the market and buy organic/free-range/fairtrade, and show that there isn't a demand for poorly farmed animals.
Cutting them out entirely from diet serves no purpose in trying to end animal cruelty. It might even hinder such a goal.
It's the same concept as someone abstaining from voting over an issue, rather than voting for someone to change it. Sitting by does nothing.
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