* Present-day factory farms inflict massive, large-scale suffering of a magnitude never before seen in agricultural practices. In addition, the human population is larger today than ever before. – PETA Canada.
* Supporters of animal rights believe that animals have an inherent worth – a value completely separate from their usefulness to humans. Every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering. Animal rights is not just a philosophy – it is a social movement that challenges society’s traditional view that all non-human animals exist solely for human use. – PETA Canada.
* The livestock sector generates 18 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent than the transportation sector. It is also a major source of land and water degradation. – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
* Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 per cent of the global arable land used, to produce feed for livestock. It is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America, where for example, some 70 per cent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing. – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
* Vegetarians have lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease ... lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, prostate and colon cancer. – American Dietetic Association