Animals are sentient beings like us. They are able to feel emotions and sensations such as pain, pleasure, fear or stress and like us they are individuals with their own needs, desires and an interest in living. Most people believe that animals should not be harmed unnecessarily, but the consumption of animal products forces animals into a life of misery and an untimely death on farms, in laboratories and in slaughterhouses.
Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans. More than 3,000 animals die every second in slaughterhouses around the world. These shocking figures do not even include fish and other sea creatures whose deaths are so great they are only counted in tonnes.
As you are reading this, billions of animals are being forced to live in conditions so appalling they defy credibility. Thousands of animals are right now being slaughtered for the taste of their flesh or simply because their worn-out bodies no longer produce enough milk, or eggs, or wool. Many other animals are being shot, gassed or shredded at birth for being the ‘wrong’ sex in the milk and egg industries. Countless animals are being poisoned, burned, scalded, blinded, starved, whipped and shot in places such as laboratories, circuses and on hunts. All this suffering and misery is preventable.