Farmed Animals

The Cruel Reality of Farmed Animal Suffering

Most people want to believe that animals raised for food products live relatively decent lives. Yet from birth to death, they are treated not as individuals, but as property, commodities, and resources to be exploited for profit. Their well-being is never prioritized. When any sentient being is used to generate profit, cruelty and suffering are inevitable.

Quick Facts About Farmed Animals

• Scale of death: Every year, more than 9 billion land animals and 2.7 trillion marine animals are killed for food.
• Legal status: Farmed animals are denied federal protections given to animal companions; standard practices like castration without pain relief are legal.
• Confinement: Over 90% of farmed animals are confined in cages or overcrowded industrial buildings.
• Environmental impact: Animal agribusiness is a leading cause of biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, and climate change.
• 'Why they matter: Like dogs and cats, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and fishes are individuals with distinct personalities who feel pain, joy, and fear.

Legalized Cruelty Behind Closed Doors

Behind the closed doors of farms and slaughterhouses, whether industrial or small and local, many of the standard practices in all animal farming constitute legalized cruelty. 

Regardless of the size of the farm, animals are sexually violated, forcibly impregnated, and babies are torn from their mothers.

Painful mutilations are routine and legal. No anesthesia is required for torturous practices like cutting off their tails, beaks, teeth, and testicles, or cauterizing (burning off) horn buds. In the dairy and egg industries, male calves and male chicks are killed because they don’t produce milk or eggs.

The Myth of "Humane" Farming

The animal farming system is built to maximize output, regardless of the pain, suffering, and death it inflicts on defenseless animals. Animals are also selectively bred to grow, produce milk, and lay eggs as fast as possible, so they can be killed as fast as possible. Their bodies are put under tremendous strain as a result, and they frequently suffer fractures, mastitis, prolapses, and other ailments. 

Over 90% of farmed animals are confined in cages so small they can barely move, or are crammed together in overcrowded, industrial buildings. They are denied the ability to express basic instincts such as nesting, nursing, or roaming.

So-called “humane” labels, phrases, and marketing tactics are designed to make consumers feel better about buying animal products. There is no humane way to use or kill someone who doesn’t want to be used or killed.

The Forgotten Victims: Fishes & Marine Life

Fishes and aquatic animals are the most exploited yet overlooked animals on Earth. Trillions are killed each year, often suffocated, hooked, or cut open while still conscious. Despite their intelligence and capacity to feel pain, they receive almost no legal protection or public concern. 

The fishing industry not only inflicts immense suffering on aquatic animals but is also accelerating ecological collapse. It decimates species, tears up seafloor ecosystems through bottom trawling, and increases pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Animal Agribusiness Destroys the Planet

The entire animal agribusiness industry is the leading cause of biodiversity loss, habitat loss, species extinction, and water depletion. Studies by Stanford and UC Berkeley conclude that phasing out animal agribusiness represents our best and most immediate chance at reversing climate change.

The Health & Nutrition Reality

Many people mistakenly believe we need to eat animal flesh, milk, and eggs for protein and other nutrients. However, the largest nutrition organizations in the world have concluded that a balanced plant-based diet is healthy for all stages of life. Eating a plant-based diet can lower the risk of the leading human diseases, while animal products increase those risks.

The fundamental problem is not just how farmed animals are treated, but that they are being used and killed for unnecessary products we are better off without.

Our Mission

In Defense of Animals advocates for veganism — the principle that humans should live without exploiting animals — and a slaughter-free, plant-based food system. We save animals by: 

• Supporting individual change with resources like our free Vegan Starter Guide.
• Exposing cruelty and violence in all animal farming — not just so-called “factory farms.”
• Challenging the powerbrokers who profit from animal exploitation.
• Enabling systemic change through advocacy, policy, and grassroots action.

How We Help End Animal Farming

We work to dismantle the system of animal farming by challenging the mindset of human supremacy: the false belief that animals exist for us to use. Through public outreach, policy advocacy, and working with undercover investigators, we expose the hidden, brutal realities of animal farming and advocate for animal rights.

We confront the myths that normalize animal cruelty through protests, media campaigns, and by exposing the widespread suffering that farmed animals endure. Whether on farms, in slaughterhouses, at state fairs, “livestock” competitions, or in labs, the forced breeding, use, and killing of animals for profit is never “humane.” Beyond individual suffering, animal farming causes widespread harm to humans, other animals, and the planet.

We also pressure corporations and government agencies to take action by ending exorbitant taxpayer subsidies for animal farming, urging universities to adopt plant-based policies, and pushing for stronger legal protections for farmed animals. Through this multi-layered approach, we’re building a future where animals are no longer seen as resources, but as individuals who deserve respect, bodily autonomy, and the right to live free.

Major Campaigns & Projects

• Farmed Animals Matter — Discover the rich emotional lives of animals used for food.
• Uncover Dairy Industry Deception — Learn how the dairy industry exploits mother–calf bonds.
• All Animal Farms Harm — Why “humane” and “small” farms are still cruel.
• Respect for Fish — Recognizing aquatic animals as sentient beings worthy of living.
• Vegan Outreach — Take the first step toward sparing lives with delicious plant-based foods.
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What You Can Do

• Live vegan: Download your free Vegan Starter Guide.
• Speak up: Take action through our Latest Alerts for farmed animals.
• Stay connected: Sign up for our weekly eNewsletter and join our monthly Vegan Mentor Support Group.
• Build community: Seek out other active vegans in your area through Meetup, Facebook, or other vegan groups.
• Share the truth: Share the reality of animal farming and exploitation, what veganism means, and the joys of living vegan with others.