Animal breeding & feeding

In Italy, 99% of animals raised for food production come from factory farming. Millions of animals spend their “life” detention in overcrowded spaces, only to have their suffering prolonged with a “death trip” from the farm to the slaughterhouse, where they are killed to be made into food. 

Aquatic animals, mostly fish and shellfish, have a choice: a long agony in a net, which not infrequently ends on the market stalls, or aquaculture (intensive fish farming responsible for the bulk of fish production), which often culminates in an excruciating death.

The livestock industry consumes the largest number of animals in terms of quantity. According to FAO (2006; 2011), 56 billion animals are bred and slaughtered every year, and meat consumption is expected to grow by 73% by 2050.  
We provide ongoing information on a number of specific areas of intervention, concurrently with the amendment of national and European regulations (in collaboration with the Eurogroup for Animals and the European Coalition for Farm Animals – ECFA), following any violations to the rules, investigations and monitoring activities by EU or national bodies.

We have raised awareness of many tragic situations, pushing towards often crucial change, such as:

• convictions for animal abuse offences committed in transporting them to the slaughterhouse, in the cases denounced by the video documentary on the illegal transport of animals too sick to stand (“downers”)
• ban on force feeding of ducks and geese in the production of foie gras 
• prohibition to sell lobsters and other crustaceans by putting live animals on display on ice with their claws tied together
• reporting offences which continue to be committed in raising chickens for egg production, in breach of EU Council Directive 1999/74/EC, which  provided for changes to conventional battery cages and came into effect on 1 January 2012.

The alternative to this pain and death chain is an animal-free diet: a discerning lifestyle which LAV promotes with information and advice through the website Cambiamenu.it.