The brutal and climate-damaging livestock industry

Are you a conscious and kind consumer?

By Annette J Beveridge

Farming animals is one of the biggest contributors to climatic changes and more than 80% of animals caught up in the intensive factory farming industry live miserable lives.

The farming of livestock causes more than 14% of greenhouse gases and takes up more than 80% of agricultural land across the world. By reducing meat consumption or opting for a plant based diet, this would reduce land usage by 76% and dramatically cut greenhouse gases.

Emissions occur in multiple ways - through the animal’s digestive processes and of course, its manure which contains traces of salt and heavy metals. If ending up in water, salt and heavy metals begin to accumulate in sediment.

If manure is overapplied to farm land, it can lead to dangerous levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water supply. Nitrogen destroys aquatic life by reducing oxygen from water.

Emissions also come through the production of animal feed and through the transportation of animals.

The desire for meat consumption has led to deforestation on a massive scale and forests are being cleared at an alarming rate as the need to grow crops for livestock food increases.

If suitable farmland - without destroying forests was used to grow crops fit for human consumption, it would greatly aid the fight against poverty, starvation and climate change.

Dairy

Dairy cows have also become a part of the factory farming process. The animals are often confined in sheds, have limited space and are fed through mechanised systems. Cows can be milked three times a day…every day…for up to five years. This unhealthy, unnatural milking system takes a huge toll on the animal.

Factory-farmed chickens

Factory farmed chickens rarely get to see the light of day or get to grow up. Most are kept in hugely crowded sheds with less space than an A4 piece of paper. These birds live for about 42 days on average. The gain a great deal of weight which their legs, organs and immune systems cannot cope with.

Often seen as more environmentally-friendly, the consumption of chicken has almost doubled since the early 1990s. More than one billion chickens are slaughtered in the UK every year.

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Pigs

Factory-farmed pigs suffer mutilation and are kept in crowded spaces. Tail docking occurs when the piglets are less than a week old and teeth clipping also takes place. This is because the pigs are kept in cramped conditions and it is to prevent them from biting others or from being bitten.

The risk of this if the animals were outside would be minimal.

If we are to change our ways because of climate change, then should we not be changing how we treat animals?

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