Center for Animal Welfare Economics
A nonprofit applying economic analysis to one of the most underfunded moral crises of our time — the treatment of animals.
See the Data →99% of farm animals in the US live on factory farms — where egg-laying hens are confined to cages the size of a sheet of paper, pigs undergo tail-docking and teeth-clipping without anesthetic, and turkeys are packed 10,000 to a single building.
94% of Americans say animals raised for food deserve to live free from abuse and cruelty. The economics of our food system say otherwise.
Sources: USDA 2022 Agricultural Census · Our World in Data (Nov 2024) · Farm Sanctuary 2024 · ASPCA52% of America's 87 million pet-owning households have skipped veterinary treatment due to cost — a crisis experts now call "economic euthanasia."
Veterinary prices rose 5.9% in a single year — more than double overall inflation. For millions of pets, access to care depends entirely on their owner's income.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (April 2025) · The Atlantic · Synchrony Pet Lifetime of Care Study 2025There is not a single federal law governing the on-farm treatment of animals raised for food. The federal Animal Welfare Act explicitly excludes farm animals from the very definition of "animal."
18 states have passed their own protections — but evidence of enforcement was found for only 12 of 44 provisions. For 10 billion animals raised and killed for food in the US each year, the law simply does not apply.
Sources: Animal Welfare Institute (2024) · Animal Legal Defense Fund · Faunalytics (Sept 2024)There are an estimated 70 million stray animals in the US — yet only 6 million make it to shelters. Of those, nearly 600,000 are euthanized every year.
The cost of this crisis falls on municipalities, taxpayers, and the animals themselves. It remains one of the most economically underfunded public welfare problems in the country.
Sources: ASPCA Shelter Statistics (2025) · Shelter Animals Count Annual Report (2025) · PetRadarData in context
% of US animals raised on factory farms, by species
Source: USDA 2022 Agricultural Census · Our World in Data 2024
Veterinary price inflation vs. overall consumer prices
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2024–April 2025
US animal shelter outcomes, 2025
Source: ASPCA Shelter Statistics 2025 · Shelter Animals Count 2025
US consumer willingness to pay for humane-certified products
Source: Peer-reviewed study, PMC/NIH · ASPCA Consumer Research 2023
Our Mission
We index, curate, and translate the world's research on animal welfare economics into plain language — so that the evidence reaches the people who need it most: policymakers, sanctuary operators, donors, and the public.
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