Popular Fact
Animals live a life worth living prior to being slaughter
Reality
Animals live for as little as 1.6% of their natural lifespan (7 weeks vs 12 years for broiler (meat) chickens). And even dairy cows get only of 20% of their 20 year lifespan.
Regardless of whether you regard 20% of a life as “good enough”, we find it extremely doubtful that any ethical defence of meat eating can successfully argue that unnecessary deaths are justified., regardless of length or quality of life.
See below for sources.
Sources
Cows
Maximum lifespan in domestic cows may exceed 20 years. However, lifespan is often limited by human culling.
Walker’s Animals of the World’
- Veal Calves live between 1 and 24 weeks prior to slaughter in comparison to a 15-20 year natural lifespan Wikipedia
- Beef cows are most profitable at 12 months Farmers Weekly (1/20th of their natural lifespan)
- Dairy Cows are typically sent to slaughter for beef at 4 years old instead of a 15-20 year lifespan Illinois Livestock Trail
Chickens
[H]ens have a natural lifespan of up to 12 years
RSPCA.org.au
- Broiler chickens (raised for meat) are slaughtered at between 5 and 7 weeks old, in comparison to a natural lifespan of up to 8 years CIWF, BBC News (1/60th of their natural life span).
- Egg Laying Hens are slaughtered after 12-18 months due to declining productivity CIWF, RSPCA
- Male chicks are useless for egg laying and are killed in the billions the day they are born Poultry Science
Pigs
- Pigs live over ten years modernfarmer.com and are typically slaughtered at about 6 months (1/20th of their natural lifespan) Pork.org