You can quite easily. Meat from a natural-death cow will be tougher - age and movement makes muscles fibres stronger. Also a dairy cow will be much leaner than

You can quite easily. Meat from a natural-death cow will be tougher - age and movement makes muscles fibres stronger. Also a dairy cow will be much leaner than beef cattle, a consequence of much energy going to milk production instead of fat storage. The flavour is also stronger and more gamey. Another consideration is the breed - different cattle breads are used for meat and dairy. Most beef cattle are cross-breads between dairy and beef stock. Dairy breeds are less muscular and consequently have lower meat yields. There's nothing dangerous about it, just unpalatable to most. In the regular market most goes to pet food.