200 million of the EU's meat chickens cannot support their own body weight properly. Factory farming: it's a filthy business

Compassion in World Farming's latest campaign, Filthy Business, is bringing attention to the shocking facts involved in farming within Europe.

Each year more than 80% of Europe’s farm animals are factory farmed, yet many politicians continue to project the romanticised image that our continent’s farming is sustainable and humane. Compassion’s new Filthy Business campaign aims to dispel this myth, and ultimately to help end factory farming once and for all.

On average, every European citizen pays nearly £8 (€9) each month in taxes towards EU farming subsidies. Subsidies that are failing to protect the welfare of our farm animals. Right now, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is being reviewed by ministers.

Emma Slawinski, Senior Campaigns Manager at Compassion in World Farming, says: “We plan to provide policy makers and the wider public with the inescapable facts about EU factory farming. To make people realise the true nature and scale of the suffering caused by intensive farming in Europe. It’s vital that we grab this opportunity to change EU Agricultural Policy now, while we can still make a difference.”

Every single year, billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are spent by the EU on farm subsidies. We believe that a percentage should be used to help farmers invest in changes that will improve the lives of their animals. One study shows, for example, that giving cows access to pasture can reduce by half, the risk of them becoming lame.

Economic pressures on farmers, such as the low price they are paid for milk, have led to extreme breeds of dairy cow who are able to produce up to ten times the natural amount of milk. Compassion is calling for a percentage of the €55 billion a year, money every family in the EU pays in taxes, to subsidise ‘better farming’ rather than farming systems that subject animals to a life of misery and pain, as well as damaging the environment and even human health.

Compassion in World Farming was founded over 40 years ago in 1967 by a British farmer who became horrified by the development of modern, intensive factory farming. Today we campaign peacefully to end all cruel factory farming practices. We believe that the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet deserves a focused, specialised approach – so we only work on farm animal welfare.