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Farmed Animal Watch is sponsored by Animal Place, Animal Welfare Trust, Farm Sanctuary, The Fund for Animals, Glaser Progress Foundation, The Humane Society of the United States, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
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Editor's Note: This week we take a close look at the
worldwide numbers of animals slaughtered for food each year, as well as
recent trends. Periodically we will provide detailed reports on a range of
topics related to farmed animal welfare. If you wish to submit ideas and/or
contribute to in-depth topics for future editions of Farmed Animal Watch,
please write to us at info@farmedanimal.net.
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1. STATISTICS: GLOBAL FARMED ANIMAL
SLAUGHTER
Globally, slaughter of farmed animals for food increased to more
than 50 BILLION individuals in 2003, not including any types of aquatic
animals. The estimates, which are compiled and provided by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, are based on reports
from more than 210 countries and territories. It is important to note that,
while fairly comprehensive, these estimates may be significantly understated
due to some countries or territories not reporting statistics and exclusions
of some types of slaughter.
With nearly 46 billion slaughtered in 2003, chickens accounted for 93% all
types of farmed animals included in the FAO database. Following chickens,
more ducks were slaughtered for their flesh than any other animal;
approximately 2.3 billion ducks were slaughtered in 2003. Not considering
birds, the slaughter of pigs was highest with more than 1.2 billion pigs
slaughtered in 2003, followed by more than 850 million rabbits slaughtered
last year. See below for a summary of the minimum 2003 worldwide slaughter
estimates, by type of animal.
-- 45,895 million (45.9 billion) chickens
-- 2,262 million (2.3 billion) ducks
-- 1,244 million (1.2 billion) pigs
-- 857 million rabbits
-- 691 million turkeys
-- 533 million geese
-- 515 million sheep
-- 345 million goats
-- 292 million cows and calves (for beef
and veal)
-- 65 million other rodents (not
including rabbits)
-- 63 million pigeons and other birds
-- 23 million buffalo
-- 4 million horses
-- 3 million donkeys and mules
-- 2 million camels (and other camelids)
These numbers indicate some significant changes compared to slaughter
statistics from 1998. Over the past five years, slaughter of birds for meat
has increased substantially, driven by a 30% increase in ducks and a 20%
increase in chickens slaughtered. Goose slaughter also increased
significantly, 17% over the five-year period, while turkey slaughter grew at
a relatively slow 4% since 1998. The period from 1998 to 2003 also saw
significant global increases in the slaughter of rabbits (21%), goats (19%),
camels (12%), asses (10%), sheep (10%), buffalo (10%), and pigs (9%). On the
other hand, the same five-year period saw decreases in the numbers of rodents
(down 10%, not including rabbits) and mules (down 22%) slaughtered for their
flesh.
According to the FAO database, farmed animal production is highly
concentrated in a handful of countries, most notably China and the United
States. For each of the ten most slaughtered animals, at least half of the
total 2003 slaughter is accounted for by the five highest-production
countries. China slaughters more ducks, pigs, rabbits, geese, lambs, goats,
cows and calves than any other country in the world. The US slaughters more
chickens and turkeys than any other country, and is second only to China when
it comes to pig slaughter. Overall, in 2003 China slaughtered more than 10.5
billion animals for their flesh, while the US slaughtered more than 9.5
billion animals, not including aquatic animals in either case.
FAO Statistical Database - Agriculture
http://faostat.fao.org/faostat/collections?subset=agriculture
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CONTENTS
1.
Statistics: Global Farmed Animal
Slaughter
2.
Statistics: Non-Slaughter Use of
Farmed Animals in the US
3.
USDA Prompts Farmers on Humane
Handling and Slaughter
4.
Farmed Animals Harbor Antibiotic-Resistant
Bacteria
- Other Items of Interest
RESOURCES
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Compiled and edited by Hedy Litke and Che Green, Farmed Animal Watch
is a free weekly electronic news digest of information concerning farmed
animal issues gleaned from an array of academic, industry, advocacy and mainstream
media sources.
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