Obtaining milk from a buffalo by beating her with a stick

Question

Question: The cattle-keeping milkmen of our time, when a buffalo does not give milk, take the milk forcibly by beating her with sticks or in some other way. Is taking milk forcibly in this way permissible or not?

Answer

If there is no other way of obtaining the milk — by medicine and the like — then severity to the extent of need and within what (the animal) can endure is proper. Without need, and beyond what it can endure, severity should not be used.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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