The Problem
Industrial animal agriculture harms animals, people, and the planet. Mercy For Animals works to build a better food system.
Behind the closed doors of industrial animal agriculture, billions of animals endure unimaginable suffering to feed the global demand for cheap meat, dairy, and eggs. But the impact of this system extends far beyond the animals it abuses—it endangers human health and fuels environmental destruction.
As factory farming continues to expand, the need for systemic change has never been more urgent.
Factory Farming: A System of Suffering
Confinement and Crowding
Mother pigs commonly spend most of their lives in metal crates so small the animals can hardly move and often suffer painful pressure sores. Hens are packed together so tightly in cages that they can barely stretch their wings. Many become tangled in cage wire. These intelligent and sensitive animals, who naturally explore, nest, and form social bonds, are condemned to lives of deprivation and stress.
Genetic Manipulation
Chickens raised for meat are bred to grow so large and fast that their legs often fail and the birds collapse. Their skin becomes raw from lying in their own waste. Cows bred for dairy are forced to produce unnatural quantities of milk, which strains their bodies, sometimes until they can no longer stand.
Mutilations
In crowded, stressful environments, animals often peck or bite one another out of frustration. To prevent injuries, the industry cuts off or grinds down parts of animals’ beaks, tails, and teeth—usually without pain relief. These horrific procedures leave many animals with chronic pain.
Extreme Cruelty
Evidence shows that animals in factory farms are often thrown, kicked, and beaten. Newborn piglets considered too small or weak are slammed headfirst against concrete floors to die. Such appalling treatment is common in an industry that sees animals as mere commodities.
Transport and Slaughter: The Harrowing End
When the time comes to be sent to slaughter, animals are gathered and loaded onto trucks where they endure long journeys without food, water, or rest. Many arrive at the slaughterhouse weak, injured, or dead. Their final hours are often their most agonising as they suffer rough handling, terrifying environments, and grisly deaths.
The Human Cost: Workers, Farmers, and Communities
The meat, dairy, and egg industries don’t just harm animals—they take a heavy toll on people, especially farmers, farmworkers, and communities surrounding factory farms and slaughterhouses. Farmers and workers in factory farms and slaughterhouses face emotional trauma and health hazards daily, and communities living near factory farms often suffer environmental contamination due to animal waste that pollutes the air, land, and water.
Environmental Toll: Climate, Pollution, and Wasted Resources
Animal agriculture is a leading driver of environmental destruction, contributing to climate change, water pollution, and resource depletion.
Climate Crisis
Raising animals for food accounts for about 15% of human-caused global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the direct emissions of all cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined. Cows produce massive amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, while manure lagoons and fertilisers release nitrous oxide, another powerful contributor to climate change.
Water Pollution
Manure runoff and chemical fertilisers used in growing animal feed poison our rivers, lakes, and oceans, creating dead zones where fish and plants can’t survive. Entire ecosystems can be wiped out.
Wasted Resources
Raising animals for food is an inefficient use of land and water. Roughly 80% of global agricultural land is used to produce meat, dairy, and eggs, yet these provide only 37% of the world’s protein and 18% of its calories. The water footprint of animal meat per gram of protein is up to six times larger than that of beans and lentils.
Deforestation and Extinction
Rainforests are being slashed and burned to create more space for cattle and feed crops. This destroys the habitats of countless species, driving many to extinction.
