Even though awareness about cruelty free lifestyle may be rising in some sections of society, meat consumption actually continues to rise worldwide. This owes itself to rising levels of affluence in the world. This is unfortunate not only from the vegan point of view, but also from the environmental standpoint. More and more of the forest cover of the world is depleted due to rising demands for meat, leading to increased green house gas emissions and ultimately climate change. We look at the top animals killed for food according to ADAPTT:
1. Marine Animals
According to some estimates, about 90 billion marine animals are killed each year – from the tiny shrimp to the mighty whale. This is thought to be a conservative figure because records in the fisheries industries are maintained not as per numbers but as per metric tons.
2. Chickens
The most ubiquitously consumed meat on the planet has to come from the hapless chicken. Now touted as the ‘healthy’ alternative to red meats, these creatures live their short lives in terrible conditions before being summarily slaughtered.
3. Ducks
Ducks may be even more widely consumed than chickens in some areas of the world, making these among the most widely slaughtered.
4. Pigs
Traditionally the pig has yielded so many different uses – bacon, sausages, salami, ham, pepperoni; to say nothing of the pork chops, trotters and pig belly that it continues to be the most widely slaughtered for food. And this is in spite of the fact that the entire Islamic world shuns pig meat completely.
5. Rabbits
These furry, cuddly, benign little creatures are also very widely killed for food.
6. Turkeys
Unfortunately turkeys have become associated with certain holiday feasts which is why their demand spikes at certain times each year.
7. Geese
Geese are next on the list of the top animals killed for food.
8. Sheep
In many areas of the world, sheep meat is a staple in the diet of the people. Sheep are raised for wool as well as meat in these areas.
9. Goats
Goat meat is traditionally eaten even by those individuals who may not touch pig or cow meat. This is somehow viewed as a lesser offence.
10. Cows and Calves
The steaks, the burgers, the veal and the corned beef come from the cows and calves reared in captivity, kept in ghastly conditions only to die a gruesome death.
Apart from these, there are rodents, pigeons, buffaloes, dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, mules and camels that get slaughtered for food in large quantities each day.