(Photo: Mr.Samarn Plubkilang/Shutterstock.com)

More Farm Animals Are Being Killed In The UK Despite The Rise Of Veganism

The number of animals being killed in UK slaughterhouses is on the rise, despite an ever-growing number of people choosing plant-based diets.

The rising death toll has been attributed to additional demand for meat imports overseas.

“The increase is due to increased export sales across red meat, and in particular pork” said the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers.

“Increased tonnage was sent as a result of…African Swine Fever (ASF) which decimated the Chinese pig population during 2019.”

Figures show that 28.8 million animals were killed in British slaughterhouses last year — which is a 5.4 percent increase over the previous two year period.

On average, more than 4,000 additional cows, sheep, and pigs were killed every day.

Close to 400,000 people signed up to the 2020 Veganuary challenge (Photo: Fortyforks/Shutterstock.com)

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Veganism In The UK

Close to 400,000 people signed up for Veganuary this year, pledging to ditch all animal products from their diets for the month of January.

One in eight people in the UK are believed to follow a vegetarian diet — with this number predicted to reach one in four by 2025. An estimated 600,000 of these people are also vegan.

“Veganism has made its way out of specialist health stores and into mainstream supermarkets, said the Vegan Society, “with more people cutting down on their meat, dairy and egg consumption.”

“There’s admittedly a long way to go before the world turns vegan, but we are very optimistic about the future of veganism thanks to the growing awareness and all the wonderful alternatives to animal products being launched.”

What do you think of the figures? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!