Farm animals from organic to conventional suffer from diseases

Organic or conventional: animals suffer

Whether the animals are kept on an organic farm or in a conventional operation makes hardly any difference.

This sobering finding is the result of a systematic evaluation of veterinary studies from Germany and Switzerland by the consumer organisation Foodwatch together with veterinarians.

The insidious part: consumers cannot tell at the supermarket or butcher's shop from the meat whether the animal was healthy or sick before slaughter.

No legal requirements for animal health

The consumer organisation called on Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir to take measures to improve animal health. To date, there are no legal requirements whatsoever for animal keepers to keep their animals healthy, neither in organic nor in conventional farming. “Cem Özdemir’s label changes nothing about the suffering of millions in German stalls,” criticised Annemarie Botzki.

Slaughterhouse findings show, for example, that nearly 40 percent of all pigs in conventional farming have pathological findings; in organic farming, according to one study, the figure is barely lower at 35 percent. Every second dairy cow in an organic barn was found to have udder inflammation. In laying hen farming, up to 97 percent of all hens exhibit bone fractures. More on the topics of animal rights and animal welfare issues.

You can help all animals and our planet with compassion. Choose empathy on your plate and in your glass. Go vegan.