Food production kills billions of land animals each year — a number that stretches into the trillions if we include animals from our rivers, lakes, and oceans. That’s more than all other forms of animal use combined, and many, many times the entire human population of our planet. This Faunalytics Fundamental looks at the scope of animal agriculture and aquaculture using the latest and best data and provides information to support people working toward solutions.
Meet the Animals
Humans consume some amazing animals: fishes have great memories; chickens think about their future; pigs can play video games; and cows love to jump and play in the sunshine. The evidence is clear: the animals we eat are capable of thinking, feeling, and suffering just like cats, dogs… and humans. Meet the animals below and follow the links to read more. We’re only scratching the surface of what makes these animals unique, sentient, and deserving of their own freedom.
Fishes
Fishes experience positive and negative emotional states, similar to mammals and other animals.
- Playing & Petting – Some species of fishes like to play games, and even interact with and dance with their people
- All In The Family – Fishes pass down cultural knowledge from generation to generation
- Memories For Life – Fish have long memories and can even pass on what they’ve learned to other fish
Pigs
Pigs are said to be more intelligent than three year old humans.
- Lovers Of Playtime – Pigs can learn to play video games and enjoy playing with toys
- Good Communicators – Pigs use a wide range of oinks, grunts, and squeals to communicate with each other
- Get Smart – Pigs are smarter than dogs and young humans, with the ability to differentiate between objects and determine their own artwork from fellow pigs’
Chickens
Chickens have strong individual personalities and form lasting friendships.
- Looking Ahead – Chickens anticipate the future and adjust their behavior to plan for it
- Surprisingly Smart – Chickens are incredibly intelligent, displaying cognitive abilities that most humans don’t develop until the age of seven
- Sensitive & Feeling – Chickens demonstrate empathy and recognize stress in other chickens
Cows
Cows are sweet animals with complex personalities, emotions, and fascinating social behaviors.
- Family Matters – Cows have a complex social structure with strong familial bonds
- Buddy System – Cows form social “grooming partnerships” similar to chimpanzees
- Big Players – Despite their size, cows love to jump and play, especially in sunshine
Attitudes
While relatively few people eat a completely vegetarian or vegan diet, support is strong for protecting farmed animals. Most people continue to believe that meat is “necessary” — but most people also believe in giving farmed animals good living conditions and protecting them from undue suffering. Below, we look at public opinion about farmed animals and agriculture.
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Life & Death
The map below shows the global hotspots for the slaughter of animals for food (these are total figures, not per capita). Perhaps not surprisingly, China and the U.S. kill the most animals for food, but Brazil, Russia, and India are ramping up their animal farming industries as well. On a per capita basis, people in the U.S. consume more meat than almost every other country on the planet.
Above, the most recent breakdown of U.S. farmed animal slaughter may be surprising to many people. In short, we eat a lot of fishes – most of them shellfishes – as well as a lot of chickens. Sadly for these species, their small size relative to cows, pigs, and other animals means that we slaughter many more of them to produce the same amount of meat. These numbers are staggering, but they are even more shocking when you consider the waste that occurs. A large portion of the animals we slaughter are inedible: less than three quarters (70%) of the bodies of chickens are “edible,” while the number is even lower for cows (60%) and pigs (57%). Farming animals is an unnecessarily cruel and inefficient process.
It’s hard to imagine slaughtering an animal could ever be considered “humane.” But in a cruel twist of irony, the animals we most commonly use for food are exempt from being protected at the time of slaughter. In the U.S., for instance, chickens and fishes are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which otherwise covers animals like cows, pigs, goats, and sheep. The vast majority of animals we eat have no protection from cruel slaughter practices.
One of the reasons that slaughter can never be truly “humane” is that profit drives the farming industry. Corporations are always trying to be more efficient by raising and slaughtering more animals with fewer resources. One consequence of this is that “line speeds” are increasing, which impacts the welfare of animals. It also hurts the slaughter plant workers, most of whom come from poor and/or marginalized communities.
On the Farm
Before they are slaughtered for food, or when they are used to produce eggs and dairy, animals live in cramped conditions. Mother pigs who are constantly pregnant live in gestation crates where they cannot stand or turn around. Hens in caged systems are given less space than a letter-sized piece of paper, making it impossible to spread their wings. Chickens, in particular, have been bred for “efficiency” by making them grow bigger and faster, regardless of the consequences for the animals themselves.
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Staggering numbers of animals are bred for profit, raised in cramped and cruel conditions, and slaughtered at increasing speeds with little to no oversight. These are worrying trends for anyone who cares about animals, and everyone agrees that people have a right to know how their food is produced. Animal advocacy groups work hard using undercover video, investigative work, and other means to expose the conditions under which farmed animals are raised and killed. In the U.S., this exposure has led to a backlash from the animal farming industry. Since 2012, so-called “ag gag” laws have been proposed in a variety of states across the country. These laws attempt to criminalize undercover investigations of animal farming. While most of these laws have failed to pass or have been struck down, some have succeeded, hindering investigations in those states.
The Environment
Some people who consume animal products may think that, while factory farming exists, surely the meat they buy comes from farms that have better conditions. Unfortunately, organic, free range, and humane labels typically have little bearing on the actual conditions of a farm. By the numbers, the vast majority of animals we consume come from factory farms.
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Since the publication of “Livestock’s Long Shadow” by the United Nations in 2006, the world is slowly waking up to the environmental consequences of animal farming. According to the UN FAO, animal farming accounts for 12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while peer-reviewed studies say that number could be as high as 20%, almost as much as burning fossil fuels for transportation. Still, public awareness of this fact remains low: only 26% of people believe that meat production has anything to do with it. Animal farming is not just a major contributor to emissions, it is also a major consumer of the world’s increasingly scarce supply of fresh water.
This Faunalytics Fundamental has shared the incredible number of animals in food production. It has shown that the unimaginable suffering is widespread. But there is hope. Every person who reduces or eliminates foods from animals makes a real difference. Every advocate who uses this information can help more people move to plant-based foods. The data raise many questions for how to invest limited advocacy resources:
- How can advocates best appeal to people regarding fish and chickens? These animals don’t engender sympathy as well as cows, pigs and sheep do.
- Should outreach target the 1/3 of people who already believe that eating animals is not necessary? How do these people differ from those who think they must eat animals?
- Why has there been little or no change in attitudes towards farmed animals since 2008-2009?
- Climate change is becoming a bigger topic globally. How can communications include the impact of meat production to achieve the greatest impact for animals?
These questions should be topics for advocates’ consideration and for additional research.
We hope you find the information useful in your advocacy for farmed animals.
Check out all of the sources here.
There is so much more work to be done to give advocates the insight they need to choose the most effective ways to help animals.
Please donate generously now to help us bring you and other advocates this crucial information.
