Chickens in a barn

A New Year’s resolution: 
let's Reduce our use of animal products

For the animals, the planet and for you

19.12.2022

After Christmas and New Year’s Eve, festive dinners and lots of desserts, it’s now time to start the new year with good intentions. However, the problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that we tend to lose interest after a short period of time.

One easy New Year’s Resolution FOUR PAWS recommends, is to start off the year with reducing our consumption of animal products like meat, dairy and eggs – as this make sense for three reasons: It’s beneficial for your own health, it helps the planet, and it improves the welfare of animals.

While environmentalists and physicians are increasingly pointing out the problems for our climate and health in connection to high meat and milk consumption, we in FOUR PAWS focus on the ethical aspect of our diet. Everyone can contribute to making the world a better place for animals just by changing our diet. 

Consuming a high amount of animal products negatively impacts animal welfare, the climate and our health. Ultimately, everything is connected and influences each other. Thus, this should help us understand and get motivated to change certain dietary habits.

Read further about our 3Rs principle here.

FOUR PAWS recommends the 3Rs principle

Reduce, Refine, and Replace.

Reduce

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Reduce


By reducing the amount of animal-based products like meat, dairy and eggs, fewer animals need to be raised, kept and slaughtered for food production.

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Refine

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Refine


When animal-based products are bought, do look at the origin and source. Choose products with labels or certification indicating higher animal welfare standards.

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Replace

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Replace


The most effective way to help animals is to replace animal-based products with plant-based alternatives as much as possible.

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What is wrong with eating animals?

What is wrong with eating animals?

Most farm animals are kept in intensive farming systems and are reproduced in mass quantities. The animals are crowded together, have little space and experience continuous stress. Antibiotics are administered prophylactically. Natural patterns of behavior can be lived only partially or not at all. In order to produce meat as much as possible within a short span of time, the animals are forcibly adapted to the system until they are eventually brought to the slaughterhouse when they are only a few months old.

What is wrong with dairy?

The welfare of the animals is also affected within the intensive dairy industry. Most dairy cows do not experience open land or pastures during their entire lives. Many of them live in tethering for 365 days per year. Calves suffer greatly in the industry. Mothers and their young are separated shortly after they are born without having the opportunity of bonding or suckling.

Today's milk production comes from cows that have been bred for high-performance. The exhausted dairy cows are often slaughtered just after the age of five, while their natural life expectancy can be over 20 years. The main reason for this is fertility problems and decrease of milk production. Find out more about dairy cows here.

It is in the Power of Everyone to Make a Change

FOUR PAWS wishes you a Happy New Year!

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