Speak Out for Farmed Animals Week!

Today marks the beginning of Speak Out for Farmed Animals Week, ALDF’s national week of action aimed at drawing attention to the plight of farmed animals who are raised and slaughtered for their flesh. Across the country, advocates are joining in the campaign. What will you do to help?

Animal lovers advocate for all animals. We protect the dogs and cats and bunnies and horses we share our daily lives with and respect the wild animals whose mysterious, autonomous lives ask us to leave them alone. We also speak up for the billions of cows, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep, and turkeys we call farmed animals.

Where the law fails them, the Animal Legal Defense Fund works hard to close loopholes, enforce protection laws, and create better, more effective laws. But you might be shocked to learn just how much the law fails farmed animals and how much we’ve got our work cut out for us.

• No federal laws govern the condition in which farmed animals are raised.
• And most state anti-cruelty laws exempt farmed animals from criminal statutes of protection.

Animals suffer unspeakable cruelty in industrial agriculture (“factory farms”) and on smaller farms, too. When it comes to the law, farmed animals are vulnerable, unprotected, and exploited as the meat, dairy, and egg industries trade horrific cruelty for high profits. This is also true at facilities that take advantage of well-meaning consumers by calling themselves “humane.”

Investigations and industry whistle-blowers have revealed abuse so horrific most people can’t stomach even hearing about it. The horrors revealed by undercover investigations are the number one reason people give for not consuming animal products. After seeing what these animals go through, many people choose not to contribute to the problem.

Farmed animals can’t speak up for themselves. Their suffering is hidden behind closed doors to shield industry from public outrage. These animals are closely quartered, kept in filth, tortured, sliced, diced, and served up like objects, and they deserve all of us to speak up for them and demand better laws.

• 10 billion farmed animals are raised and slaughtered in the U.S. alone, every year.
• 55 billion land animals are killed globally by animal agriculture.
• As the Earth’s population explodes, these numbers could double by the end of the century.

Now more than ever, it is time for us to speak out for farmed animals. What will you do to help? Tell us on social media and #SpeakOut for farmed animals today—and spread the word through ALDF’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

Ideas for today:

• Encourage your coworkers, family, and friends to celebrate Meatless Mondays.
• Need pointers? Check out ALDF’s Cruelty-Free Resource Guide.
• Check back in throughout the week for more ways you can speak out for farmed animals.