AnimalsAnimal Impact10 billion animals are slaughtered each year in the US. 99% of them are raised on factory farms. (Oct 2024) Source →Factory Farm ScaleThere are 97 million more animals (6.1%) living on factory farms than five years ago, and 46.9 percent more than 20 years ago. (Sept 2024) Source →Dairy CalvesOn industrial dairy farms, newborn calves are separated from their mothers within 24 hours after birth, leading to signs of distress in both cow and calf. Source →Dairy Calf DisbuddingDisbudding is the removal of horn buds in young calves, typically under two months old, using methods like burning, caustic paste, or surgery. It’s intended to reduce injuries among animals and handlers in intensive farming operations. However, even with pain relief, calves often continue to show signs of pain and discomfort after the procedure.Source →Battery CagesIn battery cages, four or more hens are crammed into wire enclosures so tight they are unable to spread their wings. This extreme confinement leads to stress-related behaviors like pecking at each other.Source →Gestation CratesThroughout their pregnancies, pigs are often kept in gestation crates—narrow metal enclosures barely large enough to hold their bodies. With no room to turn around, they frequently develop abnormal behaviors, leg issues, bladder infections, and skin wounds.Source →DebeakingOne common practice in poultry operations, especially in caged egg facilities, is the removal of one-half to one-third of the birds’ beaks. This procedure is extremely painful and can sometimes cause lifelong injury and difficulty eating.Source →Chicken CullingYearly, at least 7 billion male chicks are culled at hatch. The method for culling in the United States of America is by shredding or maceration, leading to immediate death.Source →Slaughterhouse SafetyAccording to the USDA, there are 800 federally inspected slaughterhouses in the United States. And we slaughter one million animals an hour, making the line speeds incredibly fast (creating significant injury risks for workers as well as severely increasing concerns for animals going through the system).Source →Slaughterhouse WorkersSlaughterhouse workers have a higher prevalence rate of mental health issues, in particular depression and anxiety, in addition to violence-supportive attitudes. Furthermore, the workers employ a variety of both adaptive and maladaptive strategies to cope with the workplace environment and associated stressors. Finally, there is some evidence that slaughterhouse work is associated with increased crime levels.Source →Child LaborChild labor is increasingly being exposed in meatpacking and slaughterhouse facilities, with reports of children as young as 13 working overnight shifts and handling hazardous cleaning tasks. When companies are caught, they often face relatively small fines — for example, one sanitation firm with revenues of nearly $3 billion was fined $1.5 million, the maximum allowed under U.S. law.Source →
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