Improving Animal Welfare

How best to help animals

Although meat consumption in Germany is declining, almost 750 million animals died for food production in Germany alone in 2024.^[1] Most of these animals are raised in inappropriate, cruel conditions on factory farms. Organic meat, for example, still only represents a niche market with a share of less than 4%. ^[2]

By way of comparison, according to projections, around 350,000 animals are taken into animal shelters in Germany every year.^[3] Therefore, more than 2,000 (two thousand!) times as many animals are slaughtered each year in factory farms than are admitted to animal shelters.

The situation is similar in other countries. Worldwide, more than 80 billion farm animals slaughtered (and the trend is rising), many times the number of domestic animals kept worldwide.^{[4] [5]}

Farm animals don’t have a lobby

Nevertheless, most people tend to focus on pets. While the law prescribes an area of between 6-10 square meters for keeping dogs in enclosures, for example,^[6] pigs weighing significantly more than 100 kg at the time of slaughter must make do with less than one square meter.

The focus of many people on the welfare of pets is also reflected in the volume of donations: In the US, for example, only 0.8% of donations go to organizations that focus on reducing the suffering of farm animals. (Similar figures are unfortunately not available for Germany.) For every animal in an animal shelter, around $500 are donated, while only around 0.2 US cents are donated for every animal in factory farms!

The leverage is great

This means that donations are not going where they are most needed to help the most animals. For example, it costs more than $1,000 per year to house an animal in a shelter. With the same amount of money, a highly effective farm animal welfare organization can accomplish much more. For example, The Humane League would use the $1,000 to engage in dialogue with companies to improve conditions for farmed animals, to convince people to reduce their meat consumption, or to conduct research. According to independent analysis, The Humane League thereby improves the lives of thousands of animals instead of just one.

More than just animal suffering

In addition to alleviating billions of cases of animal suffering, there are other reasons to advocate for a reduction in the consumption of animal products worldwide. For example, animal agriculture is responsible for over 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. .^[7] This is more than the emissions from the entire transportation sector - i.e. all cars, airplanes and ships in the world - put together. In concrete terms, for example, the production of 1 kg of beef generates over 22 kg of CO₂-equivalents, the equivalent of driving more than 100 km in a car.

In addition, industrial livestock farming is responsible for enormous water consumption, contributes to the contamination of groundwater through the production of liquid manure and accelerates the development of multi-resistant germs through the excessive use of antibiotics.