Animal welfare campaigners urge public to go VEGAN to protect against future pandemics — claiming factory farms and wildlife markets provide the perfect conditions for disease to thrive
- Ten scientists and experts signed an open letter advocating for veganism
- This is part of British animal rights charity Viva’s so-called ‘3-in-4’ campaign
- Of new and emerging infections diseases, 75 per cent originate in animals
- Humanity will always be at risk from factory farms and wildlife markets, they said
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Animal welfare campaigners have urged the public to go vegan to help protect against future pandemics in the vein of the coronavirus.
In an open letter, ten scientists and campaigners claimed that factory farms and wildlife markets provide ideal conditions for disease to thrive and spread to humans.
The letter is part of vegan charity Viva!’s ‘3-in-4’ campaign, which aims to draw attention to how 75 per cent of emerging infectious diseases come from animals.
The group aims to raise awareness of the connection between animal abuse, factory farming and novel human infections.
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Animal welfare campaigners have urged the public to go vegan to help protect against future pandemics in the vein of the coronavirus
The letter has been signed by various scientific experts, including Centre for Animal Welfare director Andrew Knight and public health professional Josh Cullimore.
‘Across the globe animals are kept in horrific conditions in factory farms and wildlife markets,’ the letter reads.
‘These settings provide a fertile environment for the transmission of viruses between different species and humans.’
‘Ending the exploitation of animals is one of the biggest actions humankind can take to protect itself against future pandemics.’
Other supporters of the drive include English barrister and human rights campaigner Michael Mansfield, PETA director Elisa Allen, Humane League UK managing director Vicky Bond, and author and animal welfare campaigner Dominic Dyer.
Viva! — which argues that ‘taking life unnecessarily is obscene, damaging and plain wrong’ — said that coronavirus, SARS, bird influenza, Ebola and AIDS all originated in animals before infecting humans.
‘Taken together, 56 zoonotic diseases are responsible for an estimated 2.5 billion cases of human illness and 2.7 million deaths a year,’ they added.
‘Humanity will always be at risk to future pandemics while factory farms and wildlife markets continue.’
In an open letter, ten scientists and campaigners claimed that factory farms and wildlife markets provide ideal conditions for disease to thrive and spread to humans
‘The longer we continue to exploit and abuse animals for our own needless consumption, the more at risk we will be to pandemics like COVID-19 in the future, said Viva! founder Juliet Gellatley.
‘Calls for tighter controls at airports, banning unregulated movement of animals and limiting human-animal contact will give us little protection if we continue to provide the perfect environments for these diseases to thrive.’
‘The most logical and best form of protection is to go vegan and stop the disease at source.’
More information on the ‘3-in-4’ campaign can be read on the Viva! website.