Silver Spring monkeys

Were seventeen macaque monkeys native to Thailand Experiment conducted by Edward Taub Living conditions The smell filth, faeces rust their lives limited to metal

boxes just 17 inches wide

Domitian, one of the Silver Spring monkeys, in one of the images distributed by PETA to newspapers

Condition of the monkeys Several had bitten off their own fingers, 39 of their fingers missing. Lacerations or self-amputation injuries were never cleaned. Discoloured, exposed muscle

tissue on their arms.

Two monkeys had bones protruding through their flesh.

Wool, Fur, and Leather: Hazardous to the Environment

Fur
Processed in China, where environmental regulations are often

ignored.
According to Professor Cheng Fengxia of Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Pollution caused by inappropriate processing, especially colouring the fur, has become a headache Each mink skinned by fur farmers produces about 44 pounds of feces in his or her lifetime. That adds up to 1 million pounds of feces produced annually by U.S. mink farms alone.

Water Pollution

Waste from fur farms is poisoning our waterways. One dangerous component of this waste is nearly 1,000 tons of phosphorus

In December 1999, the Washington State Department of Ecology fined one mink farmer $24,000 -the fecal coli form levels measured in the water were as much as 5,000 times in excess of the legal limit.

Nitrates, phosphates and other substances running off with rainwater or seeping into aquifers and polluting local water supplies are increasing

The EPA has also filed complaints against companies for illegally generating and disposing of hazardous waste from the processing of pelts.

Air Pollution
In Denmark, where more than 2 million minks are killed for their

fur annually, more than 8,000 pounds of ammonia is released into

the atmosphere each year. Furs loaded with chemicals to keep them from decomposing in the buyer's closet.

Energy
Producing a fur coat from ranch-raised animals takes more than 15

times as much energy as does producing a faux-fur coat.

Various saltsalong with ammonia, formaldehyde, hydrogen peroxide, and other chromates and bleaching agentsare used to preserve and dye fur. Furriers claim that the carcasses from animals skinned for their pelts are used for animal feed, but often they are simply dumped into landfills.

How Leather Production Harms the Environment

Now more dangerous substances,

including mineral salts, formaldehyde,

coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishessome of them

cyanide-based.
Most leather is chrome-tanned.

 The waste from tanneries of pollutants, including protein, hair, salt, lime sludge, sulfides, and acids.

A chrome-tanning facility wastes

nearly 15,000 gallons of water and produces up to 2,200 pounds of solid waste for every ton of hides that it processes.

 Leather tanning generates 800,000 tons of chrome shavings annually. Groundwater near tanneries with highly elevated levels of a

variety of toxic substances.

The Regis Tanning Co.,groundwater samples- arsenic, chromium, lead, and zinc More than 500 tanneries in three districts of India were charged with polluting some 16,000 hectares of agricultural land and contributing to drought conditions.

How Wool Production Harms the Environment

Land cleared led to increased soil salinity, erosion, and

decreased biodiversity.
Oxford researchers studying land degradation in Karoo, South Africa, farmed animals, especially sheep, were responsible for an unfavorable change in vegetation and erosion that led to the formation of badlands and gully systems. Patagonia, Argentina- Soil deterioration in the region triggered a desertification . More than 50 million acres in one province alone has been irrevocably damaged because of overstocking.

Consume huge amounts of water, chemicals used for wool production can pollute existing water supplies as well.

More than 14,000 pounds of insecticides were applied to sheep in the U.S. alone in 2000.

Manure generated -contributed to the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses over the last 250 years

The concentration of methane has shot up by more than 130 percent worldwide In New Zealand, methane emissions coming from grazing animals such as sheep constitute about half of the nations greenhouse-gas emissions.

THE WATER WE DRINK

-Millions of pounds of excrement and other
bodily waste produced by farmed animals. -Lagoons often seep or spill into surrounding waterways -The EPA reports that chicken, hog, and cattle excrement has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states.

-In West Virginia and Maryland, scientists

have discovered that male fish are growing ovaries

THE AIR WE BREATHE

-A Consumers Union study in Texas found that animal feedlots
in the state produce more than 14 million pounds of
particulate dust every year - People who live nearby are forced to inhale the toxins and

pathogens
- Global warming has been called humankind's "greatest challenge"

- Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together cause

the vast majority of global warming.

CARBON DIOXIDE
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide, the primary gas responsible for global warming. enormous amounts of carbon dioxide stored in trees are released during the destruction of vast acres of forest

a vegan is responsible for the release of approximately 1.5

fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year than is a meat-eater.

METHANE
The billions of chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows who are crammed into factory farms each year in the U.S. Scientists report that every pound of methane is more than 20 times as effective as carbon dioxide. NITROUS OXIDE Nitrous oxide is about 300 times more potent as a global warming gas than carbon dioxide.

Eating less meat could cut climate costs

Cutting back on beef burgers and bacon could wipe $20 trillion

off the cost of fighting climate change.

Reducing our intake of beef and pork would lead to the

creation of a huge new carbon sink, as vegetation would thrive

on unused farmland.

Millions of tonnes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, would

also be saved every year due to reduced emissions from farms

Japanese researchers found that a kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions (GGE) and other pollution than driving a car for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.

According to the New Scientist, a kilogram of beef is therefore responsible for the equivalent of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 250km, and burns enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for almost 20 days. The researchers from the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, found that most of the GGE were from methane emitted by the cows, while their waste primarily produced the acid and fertilizing substances.

 According to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases carbon dioxide

(CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and the like to spew into the
atmosphere than either transportation or industry.

The FAO report found that current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of "CO2-equivalent" greenhouse gases the world produces every year

 Beef production generates greenhouse gases that contribute more than 13 times as much to global warming as do the gases emitted from producing chicken.

Beef consumption is rising rapidly, both as population increases and as people eat more meat.

Producing the annual beef diet of the average American emits as much greenhouse gas as a car driven more than 1,800 miles.

USING UP RESOURCES
According to the United Nations, raising animals for food (including land used for grazing and land used to grow feed crops) now uses a staggering 30 percent of the Earth's land mass. It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from

plant protein. Raising animals for food gobbles up precious

energy. Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., 80 percent is used to raise animals for food and grow grain to feed them.

In the finishing phase alone, in which pigs grow from 100 pounds to 240 pounds, each hog consumes more than 500 pounds of grain, corn, and soybeans; this means that across the U.S., pigs eat tens of

millions of tons of feed every year.

Chickens, pigs, cattle, and other animals raised for food are the primary consumers of water in the U.S.: a single pig consumes 21 gallons of drinking water per day, while a cow on a dairy farm drinks as much as 50 gallons daily.

It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of cow

flesh, whereas it takes about 180 gallons of water to make 1 pound of whole wheat flour.

Therefore