The number of animals slaughtered in the US comprise only a portion of the total number that die here, as many do not reach the slaughterhouse. Neither do they include animals slaughtered abroad and then shipped to the US, even as they do include those slaughtered here for sale abroad. Nevertheless, they provide a picture of the slaughter industry in this country. The 2010 slaughter included:
23,627,000 ducks
35,330,800 cattle
110,367,000 pigs
242,619,000 turkeys
8,790,478,000 chickens
7.3 billion fish
12 billion shellfish
These add up to 29 billion animals slaughtered for food in the US in 2010. Slaughter totals have not seen the same downward trend, as increasing exports have made up for decreases in domestic consumption.
Calculated by Noam Mohr, noammohr@gmail.com, Jan 2011
