Category Archives: Statistics

‘Saving’ victims by being vegan – numbers from a hat

Posted on June 23, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

In a previous blog I included an observation about this idea of ‘saving’ victims by being vegan, but I’m revisiting it because it deserves to be addressed in a blog of its own. It should be noted that when this … Continue reading →

Posted in Statistics | Tagged aquatic, how many animals are saved, land-based, marine, numbers out of a har, numbers out of a hat, saving animals, saving animals be being vegan, Statistics | 3 Comments

Lies, damn lies, and statistics*

Posted on March 27, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Summary (for clear image) February is the month that FAO (The Food and Agriculture Organization, a specialised agency of the United Nations) publishes the annual global statistics of the number of land-based individuals slaughtered in the latest statistical year, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Global disasters, Statistics | Tagged amphibians, antibiotic resistance, avian flu, chickens, climate, climate catastrophe, data, diet, health, increase, insects, media hype, motive, not a diet, pandemic, plant-based, plant-based eating, plant-based options, slaughterhouse, species extinction, Statistics, veganism, wishful thinking, zoonotic, zoonotic disease | 3 Comments

Thinking of ducks

Posted on February 28, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Ducks. As a child I used to love visiting duckponds. It was a Sunday treat and few children of my generation in my part of the world haven’t been enchanted by ‘going to feed the ducks’, clutching a bag of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Statistics, Victims in the shadows | Tagged Chickens and eggs, cooking, down, duck, duckpond, ducks, feathers, foie gras, hunting, shooting, slaughter, speciesism, sport, vegan, zoonotic, zoonotic disease | 4 Comments

Slaughter numbers jump by 2.2 billion

Posted on February 10, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Despite the euphoria caused by the proliferation of plant based dietary options in shops and restaurants, the statistics don’t bear out the wishful thinking about veganism taking over the world any time soon. In fact, given the accelerating climate catastrophe … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer demand, Global disasters, Statistics | Tagged 2018, climate catastrophe, diet, environmental destruction, increase, plant based diet, Statistics, vegan | 27 Comments

Ending life as we know it – humanity on the edge of the abyss

Posted on March 30, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Every day I see posts using fanciful estimates about the number of individuals our species slaughters each year. There are even suggestions (often circulated by those seeking to claim credit – and frequently, donations) that slaughter numbers are falling. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Global disasters, Statistics | Tagged 6th extinction, abyss, bees, climate, climate change, commodification, consumer demand, existence, global warming, habitat destruction, male chicks, marine destruction, planetary collapse, planetary destruction, silk worms, sixth extinction, slaughter, slaughterhouse, species extinction, Statistics, vegan, veganism, victims | 31 Comments

Harm is driven by consumer demand – thoughts about dairy

Posted on February 2, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Most of us were raised to believe that we ‘needed’ to consume dairy to be healthy. We were also taught that taking milk didn’t harm cows. Many of us live our whole lives without ever challenging these childhood myths. The … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer demand, dairy, Statistics, Uncategorized | Tagged cheese, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, harm, health, milk, resources, sentience, slaughter, truth, victims, violence | 14 Comments

Statistics: a list of individual tragedies

Posted on January 15, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

How often do we look at statistics and get lost in the mathematics of bigger numbers and smaller numbers, more or fewer, comparisons and graphs. Look again. Every single one of these 74,171,872,986 was a unique individual – separate from … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, Statistics | Tagged Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, flesh, harm, human superiority, humane, justice, resources, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, Statistics, truth, victims, violence | 30 Comments

To kill vast numbers, we must ‘farm’ vast numbers

Posted on January 2, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

When we are not vegan, and if we consider it at all, we sometimes have the idea that the reproduction of ‘farmed’ individuals is somehow a natural process and our use of their bodies for eggs, milk and body parts … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, FAQ, Statistics | Tagged artificial insemination, awakening, commodification, consumer demand, resources, sentience, slaughter, slaughter numbers, Statistics, veganism, victims, violence | 7 Comments