Animal Farming

Each year in the UK, around 1.2 billion land animals are killed for food*.  This figure doesn’t include fish and other sea creatures, who are killed in such vast numbers that they are counted in tonnes. Some estimates of the number of fish and shellfish killed exceed 5 billion per year in the UK**.

Intensive farming exists to produce meat, eggs and dairy products as quickly and cheaply as possible. To keep production costs down the animals are given the bare minimum they need to survive. They are fattened in huge, dirty, cramped sheds and deprived of everything that makes life worth living. They can hardly stretch their wings or legs and will never be able to roam.

But whether they are raised on a factory farm or under a so-called ‘higher welfare’ method, all these animals will be killed at just a fraction of their natural lifespan. At the slaughterhouse, they will face a terrifying and brutal death. Animal Aid has conducted undercover investigations inside 11 randomly chosen UK slaughterhouses and found evidence of lawbreaking in ten of them. This included animals being beaten, kicked and burnt with cigarettes.

As well as exposing the horror of animal farming, we promote veganism, since this is a powerful step that anyone can take to help end the suffering of farmed animals.

*according to 2020 figures by the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

**Based on the average of two estimation methodologies by Animal Kill Clock UK

Undercover Investigations

This section details the influential undercover investigations that Animal Aid has undertaken in order to expose conditions endured by farmed animals.

Key Reports and Briefings

Animal Aid has produced a wide range of revealing and thoroughly researched reports and briefings on animal farming topics. Among areas covered are: factory farming and human health, the truth about ‘higher welfare’ products and the fishing industry.