Behind every number, a someone

Who they are.

Numbers numb. Names don't. Before talking about industries and tonnes and emissions, meet the animals themselves — what science has learned about their cognition, their social lives, and the gap between the lives they could have and the ones they get.

Bos taurus

Cows

Curious, devoted mothers with lifelong friendships.

01

Cognition & emotion

Cows show measurable excitement when they solve a problem — researchers call it the 'eureka' response. They recognise dozens of individual cows and humans by face.

Social life

Form lasting friendships and grieve when separated. A mother and calf will call to each other for days after weaning.

Lifespan

Natural~20 years
Reality4–6 years (dairy) · 12–18 months (beef)

What we do instead

Dairy cows are forcibly impregnated yearly; calves are removed within hours. Male dairy calves are killed for veal or shot at birth.

Surprising fact

Cows have best friends. Heart rate drops measurably when paired with their preferred companion.

Sources

Sus scrofa domesticus

Pigs

Smarter than dogs. Cleaner than cats. Confined like neither.

02

Cognition & emotion

Pigs solve mirror tasks, use joysticks to play simple video games, and outperform 3-year-old children on some object-permanence tests.

Social life

Live in matriarchal groups, recognise dozens of individuals, and have distinct calls for food, alarm, and reunion.

Lifespan

Natural10–15 years
Reality5–6 months

What we do instead

Mother pigs are confined in gestation crates barely larger than their bodies. Piglets are castrated, tail-docked, and teeth-clipped without anaesthesia.

Surprising fact

Pigs dream in REM sleep — and seem to have nightmares after stressful days.

Sources

Gallus gallus domesticus

Chickens

Self-control, basic arithmetic, and a vocabulary of 30+ calls.

03

Cognition & emotion

Chickens can delay gratification for a bigger reward, count small quantities, and learn by observing other chickens.

Social life

Hens cluck to unhatched chicks; chicks answer from inside the egg. Roosters offer food to favoured hens with a special call.

Lifespan

Natural6–10 years
Reality35–42 days (broiler) · 72 weeks (laying)

What we do instead

Broilers grow so fast their legs collapse. Male chicks of laying breeds — ~6 billion per year — are killed on day one by maceration or gas.

Surprising fact

Chickens have full-colour vision better than ours, including a fourth cone that sees ultraviolet.

Sources

All finfish + shrimp

Fish

Pain receptors, long memories, and cooperative hunting.

04

Cognition & emotion

Fish use tools (wrasses break shells on rocks), recognise individual humans, and remember escape routes for months.

Social life

Cleaner-fish maintain stable client relationships. Many species form lifelong pair bonds.

Lifespan

NaturalVaries — many species 10–50+ years
RealityKilled at 1–2 years (farmed) or any age (wild)

What we do instead

Most are killed without stunning — left to suffocate on ice or crushed under their own weight in nets. ~38 million tonnes of bycatch per year.

Surprising fact

Studies show fish have nociceptors and opioid systems indistinguishable from mammals'. They feel pain.

Sources

Ovis aries

Sheep

Face-readers, problem-solvers, and devoted to family lines.

05

Cognition & emotion

Sheep recognise up to 50 individual faces — sheep or human — for over two years. They can solve mazes and choose familiar faces under stress.

Social life

Form matrilineal groups; grandmothers, mothers, and daughters often graze together for life.

Lifespan

Natural10–12 years
Reality6–8 months (lamb) · 4–5 years (wool)

What we do instead

Lambs are tail-docked and castrated without pain relief. Mulesing — cutting away skin from live sheep — remains common in Australian wool.

Surprising fact

Sheep have rectangular pupils that give them near-360° vision, and they recognise human emotions from photographs.

Sources

Meleagris gallopavo

Turkeys

Curious flock-keepers selectively bred until they can't reproduce.

06

Cognition & emotion

Turkeys recognise faces, learn their names, and form preferences for specific humans. Wild turkeys solve novel foraging puzzles and remember solutions for years.

Social life

Live in matriarchal flocks; mothers teach poults what to eat and which predators to fear. Make over 20 distinct vocalisations.

Lifespan

Natural~10 years
Reality14–18 weeks

What we do instead

Industrial 'broad-breasted white' turkeys have been bred so large they cannot mate naturally — every commercial turkey is the product of artificial insemination. Beaks and toes are trimmed without pain relief.

Surprising fact

Turkeys blush. The bare skin on their heads and necks changes colour with mood — pink when relaxed, deep red when excited or distressed.

Sources

Octopoda

Octopuses

Tool-using, problem-solving minds with eight independent arms.

07

Cognition & emotion

Octopuses open childproof jars, navigate mazes, and use coconut shells as portable shelters — the first documented invertebrate tool use.

Social life

Largely solitary but show distinct individual personalities; some recognise individual humans by face and behave differently toward each.

Lifespan

Natural1–5 years (most species)
RealityWild-caught at any age; first commercial octopus farms now under construction in Spain

What we do instead

Most octopuses are killed by being clubbed, sliced alive, or asphyxiated. The first industrial octopus farm, planned for the Canary Islands, would confine 1 million highly intelligent solitary animals together each year.

Surprising fact

Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are in its arms — each arm can taste, decide, and act semi-independently of the central brain.

Sources

If we wouldn't do it to a dog, why a pig?

The line between 'pet' and 'food' is geography, habit, and marketing — not biology, intelligence, or capacity to suffer.

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