If you ask me

A cow behind a wire fence. Animal liberation would set this animal free to do as it pleases and this would be a disaster for the environment.

If you ask me, the animal liberation goal of trying to eliminate all animal agriculture is a foolish, misguided and totally unworkable one. Not only is it wrong to try and force their twisted ideals onto the rest of mankind but the result of this goal, if ever it came to pass, would be a total disaster for the entire planet.  The elimination of all animal agriculture is the fourth goal on the list of goals for animal liberation and this list of goals was discussed previously in What is Animal Liberation?

Just think about this animal liberation objective for a second. Animal liberation wants to eliminate ALL animal agriculture. Not only does this mean that everyone would be forced to participate in the unnatural vegetarian/vegan experiment, and you can read more about Veganism here, but the question has to be asked; what would happen to all of those animals that are presently kept on farms? If animal agriculture was to end, and all farm animals given their ‘freedom’ and the right to live, as and where they choose, what would be the real impact on our lives and on the planet?

First of all, let us look at the number of animals that we are talking about. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, there are more than 1.4 billion cattle, 1 billion sheep and pigs and 19 billion chickens. Of course, there are many other billions of animals associated with agriculture, such as horses, dogs, cats, goats, alpacas, fish, turkeys, rabbits and the list goes on. You can see the UN figures, for yourself, at: Global Livestock Counts. In addition, if you read the literature from publications, such as Compassion in World Farming’s Strategic Plan they make the claim that around 60 billion animals are killed each year in agriculture around the world.

It is clear from these two sources, and dozens of other sources on the internet, that there is somewhere in excess of 70 billion farm animals worldwide and the only reason that this number is not increasing at an unsustainable rate, is that a large percentage of them are killed for food each year.

Now, just imagine what the population of farm animals would be if we did eliminate animal agriculture, freed all farm animals, stopped killing them and if they were now free to breed without control. Suddenly, there would be 100 billion or more animals, then 150 billion, then 200 billion and the rate of increase would be staggering. Hundreds of billions of farm animals, wandering where they please and eating whatever they wanted, might make the animal liberationists happy – but that is only because they have not thought about the real implications of this situation.

Now just try and imagine what would happen, worldwide, when suddenly tens of billions of herbivores, that are not a natural part of the ecosystem, are free to wander into any forest, savannah, rainforest or jungle and to eat their fill and to breed as they please. At the same time, if animal liberation had it’s way, the control of wild populations would have also ceased and an uncontrolled explosion in their population would also be underway. Worldwide predator numbers are presently low, as predators and people do not mix very well, and, in any event, only the larger predators would be able to control the population of larger animals like cattle and horses. The sudden population increase in the ‘liberated’ farm animals, and the uncontrolled wild animals, would go virtually unchecked as it would take many, many years for predator numbers to build up to a level where the herbivore populations might be brought into some sort of balance.

However, what about those countries that do not have large predators and never had large predators? Yet, for a balance to be achieved, the environment will need large predators in order to control the large herbivores. Australia, for example, where the largest terrestrial predator is the dingo, a wild dog with very limited capabilities when it comes to bringing down large animals like cattle, would have a huge problem if all farm animals were freed. Australia already has a huge problem with feral animals, such as feral cattle, buffalo, pigs, goats, deer, etc., etc., and that is despite a constant effort to control their numbers. If we were to stop controlling Australia’s feral animals, and then, at the same time, grossly supplement their numbers by releasing all agricultural animals, the delicate and unique environment of Australia would be quickly destroyed.

Now consider Europe, where the last lions were killed off hundreds of years ago and bears and wolves are limited in numbers and confined to some forests in Eastern Europe. How much damage would the release of all farm animals cause to those areas not occupied by man? Even in Africa, where large predators do still exist, the problems would be huge. Even if African farmers, and especially native African farmers, could be convinced to release their only source of income and wealth into the bush to compete with the wild animals, these farm animals would quickly overwhelm sensitive and vulnerable ecosystems. There is already a serious problem, in Africa, with the damage that domestic cattle and goats cause to the environment, and animal liberation would exacerbate this issue many times over.

The notion that mother nature would balance things out for us, after the animal liberationists have dumped a huge problem in her lap, is simply nonsense. While the predator numbers might slowly build up, the cattle would still be eating the vegetation alongside of the native animals that were already in the bush. Soon we would see massive over grazing, the total loss of many plant species, the exposure of the soil and subsequent erosion on a massive scale.The rate of overgrazing, and the destruction of the ecosystems, would occur at a rate far in excess of the breeding capacity of the predators. The plants would go long before the predators were numerous enough to effect any form of balance.

What needs to be realised is that once the plants are gone, and the top soil exposed to be washed or blown away, there is no going back. Replacement of the top soil, with the associated minerals, nutrients, seeds and pods, is a very long term problem and we are talking about thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of years, before recovery could occur. In just a couple of years, never mind the hundreds and thousands needed for recovery, many trees, grasses and plant species will be lost. This means that the original environment would be lost for ever. On top of this, when we lose plant and tree species, we then start losing those animals species that are dependant upon those plants, too. In the end, we would have nothing left except vast swaths of wasteland across the entire planet.

Animal liberation may have a different dream for our world but this image is closer to the reality of what their actions will bring.

Not only would there be mass starvation and extinctions of both wild animals and the ‘liberated’ farm animals, as well as the loss of irreplaceable ecosystems, but mankind would soon face mass starvation as well. Starvation on this scale would lead to the collapse of economies, social infrastructure, the end of government and the collapse of law and order. War and famine would soon complete the destruction started by the animal liberationists’ goal of ending all animal agriculture and giving freedom to all animals. They may establish what they think is an animal utopia, but it would be very short lived utopia. In truth, they would be establishing hell on earth for animals, plants and man.

So why do the animal liberationists want this? Quite simply because they have no concept of conservation (see Animal Liberation is NOT Conservation), no concept of wildlife management and no concept of animal husbandry. Further, they have no concept of the vast numbers of farm animals involved and the true implications of what they will unleash on the planet if they have their misguided way.  Quite simply, they have not thought past their own selfish and self-centred goal of becoming a ‘special’ friend of the animals. Their only ‘knowledge’ of animals and wildlife comes from watching TV and from spoiling their own pets to death. In addition, they believe in the Walt Disney, anthropomorphic version of nature and have not taken the time to learn the truth about the world we live in. Quite simply, animal liberation is based, almost entirely, on ignorance and lies. Animal liberation, if allowed it’s way, will simply destroy what it professes to love.

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Animal Liberation’s Unrealistic Views on Nature.

The Threat of Feral Cats and Animal Lovers.

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The Animal Justice Party and the Feral Cat

Animal Liberation’s Unrealistic Views on Nature