The Butcher and his Servant (1568), drawn and engraved by Jost Amman
Number of land animals killed for meat in 2022[1]
Animals
Number Killed
Chickens
75,208,676,000
Ducks
3,190,336,000
Pigs
1,491,997,360
Geese
750,032,000
Sheep
637,269,688
Rabbits
533,489,000
Turkeys
515,228,000
Goats
504,135,884
Cattle
308,640,252
Rodents
70,763,000
Pigeons and other birds
48,784,000
Water buffalo
27,971,519
Dogs (low-end estimate 2016)[2]
16,000,000
Horses
4,650,017
Camels
2,882,573
Deer (in tonnes of meat)
2,032,707.36
Donkeys
1,164,144
Other camelids
964,866
Mules
93,443
Animal slaughter is the killing of animals, usually referring to killing domestic livestock. It is estimated that each year, 80 billion land animals are slaughtered for food.[3] Most animals are slaughtered for food; however, they may also be slaughtered for other reasons such as for harvesting of pelts, being diseased and unsuitable for consumption, or being surplus for maintaining a breeding stock. Slaughter typically involves some initial cutting, opening the major body cavities to remove the entrails and offal but usually leaving the carcass in one piece. Such dressing can be done by hunters in the field (field dressing of game) or in a slaughterhouse. Later, the carcass is usually butchered into smaller cuts.
The animals most commonly slaughtered for food are cattle and water buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, deers, horses, poultry (mainly chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese), insects (a commercial species is the house cricket), and increasingly, fish in the aquaculture industry (fish farming). In 2020, Faunalytics reported that the countries with the largest number of slaughtered cows and chickens are China, the United States, and Brazil. Concerning pigs, they are slaughtered by far the most in China, followed by the United States, Germany, Spain, Vietnam, and Brazil. For sheep, again China slaughtered the most, this time followed by Australia and New Zealand. Similarly, the amount (in tonnes) of fish used for production is highest in China, Indonesia, Peru, India, Russia, and the United States (in that order).[4]
^"FAOSTAT". www.fao.org. REGIONS: World + (Total), ELEMENTS: Producing Animals/Slaughtered, ITEMS: Meat of ... & ... meat, YEARS: 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
^Stone, Kristin (3 November 2016). "Asia's Dog Meat Trade: FAQs". Humane Society International. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
^"FAOSTAT: World + (Total), Producing Animals/Slaughtered, Meat of ..., 2022". www.fao.org. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
^"Global Animal Slaughter Statistics & Charts: 2020 Update". 29 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
Animalslaughter is the killing of animals, usually referring to killing domestic livestock. It is estimated that each year, 80 billion land animals are...
called an abattoir (/ˈæbətwɑːr/ ), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes...
Cattle slaughter in India, especially cow slaughter, is controversial because of cattle's status as endeared and respected living beings to adherents of...
prescribed practice of slaughtering an animal for food production purposes. Ritual slaughter as a mandatory practice of slaughter for food production is...
Pig slaughter is the work of slaughtering domestic pigs to obtain pig meat (pork). It regularly happens as part of traditional and intensive pig farming...
[ðaˈbiːħa]), also spelled zabiha, is the prescribed method of slaughter for halal animals (excluding fish, which are exempt from this requirement). It...
distress. Euthanasia is distinct from animal slaughter and pest control. In domesticated animals, the process of animal euthanasia can be substituted with synonyms...
litigation. The most controversial aspect of ritual slaughter is the legality of unstunned slaughter, where animal welfare concerns regularly clash with religious...
shochet (שוחט, "slaughterer", plural shochtim) is a person who performs shechita. To become a shochet, one must study which slaughteredanimals are kosher...
Look up Slaughter or slaughter in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Slaughter may refer to: Animalslaughter, the killing of animals for various purposes...
throughout the entire lifecycle of the animal. The emphasis on swift and painless slaughter respects the animal's dignity and minimizes suffering. Halal...
slaughter; whether horses not raised for consumption yield safe meat, and whether it is appropriate to consume what some view as a companion animal....
beings and slaughtered painlessly while reciting the basmala and takbir. If the animal is treated poorly or tortured while being slaughtered, the meat...
Buddhists. Also within this method of butchering the animal must not be scared or shaken before the slaughter. Jhatka (Punjabi: ਝਟਕਾ, Hindi: झटका, Urdu: جھٹکا)...
flesh of any animals that do not meet these criteria is forbidden by the dietary laws. Furthermore, kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according...
Animals and the Law "US – Food Animal – Humane Methods of Livestock Slaughter". www.animallaw.info. Animal Legal & Historical Center. New York Animal...
method of slaughter may cause a high degree of anxiety, depending on the process. The way animals are handled and restrained prior to slaughter likely has...
World Organisation for Animal Health. However, due to many culture's reliance on fish, some alternative methods of slaughter have been developed. Some...
prior to a 2020 annual religious event Eid al-Adha where animals are ritualistically slaughtered. The billboards depicted goats with the words "I am a living...
scripture that require vegetarianism. Certain animals can be eaten under the condition that they are slaughtered in a specified way. In the Arabian Peninsula...
insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animalslaughter. Vegetarianism may be adopted for...
performing animals, animal transport, animalslaughter, and animal experimentation. The Breeding of and Experiments on Animals (Control and Supervision) Rules...
the regulation of animalslaughter. On April 21, a law was passed concerning the slaughter of animals; no animals were to be slaughtered without anesthetic...
an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than...
they are under the care of humans. These concerns can include how animals are slaughtered for food, how they are used in scientific research, how they are...
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish law. Dhabihah is the method used to slaughter an animal in Islamic tradition....
of animalslaughter, which require the draining of the animal's blood, Christian slaughter practices did not usually specify the method of slaughter" though...
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