How Many Animals Are Killed Each Year?
More than 150 billion animal are killed each year for human consumption, and over 100 million animals are killed for laboratory purposes in the United States. These numbers do not reflect animal deaths from shelters, zoos or blood sports.
Approximately 90 billion marine animals are killed each year for food. Fishermen use large nets, capturing marine life by the metric ton. The other 60 billion animals killed each year are land animals. Over 97 percent of the land animals killed each year for human consumption are raised for slaughterhouses.
Animals killed in slaughterhouses for food include but are not limited to chickens, turkeys, cows and rabbits. The 100 million laboratory animals killed each year include but are not limited to mice, rats and frogs.
