People should be encouraged to dump meat just as smokers are encouraged to give up tobacco, according to The Future of Food and Farming, a British report featuring contributions from 400 researchers around the world.

With the global population expected to jump from 6.8 billion to more than 9 billion by 2050, the report predicts that farmers will need to produce 70 percent more food while using the same amount of land. Since this will be extremely difficult—if not impossible—people will need to drastically reduce their meat consumption in order to stave off food shortages. This is because raising animals for food is grossly inefficient: Animals consume large quantities of food but produce comparatively small amounts of meat in return. More than 70 percent of the grain that we grow in the U.S. is fed to farmed animals.

The report's authors expect that efforts to promote plant-based diets will be met with the same resistance from the meat industry that anti-smoking initiatives were initially met with by tobacco companies. But they say that's a small price to pay in order to help prevent poverty, starvation, climate change, loss of wildlife, and environmental damage. Not to mention animal suffering.

amy loves yah/cc by 2.0

Written by Michelle Sherrow

woodleywonderworks/ CC by 2.0

Think way back to the days of the dinosaurs, the cave people, and America's original tea partiers for an instant reminder that in the grand scheme of things, 40 years is a drop in the bucket. And 40 years after the fast-food revolution took off in the 60s and 70s, McDonald's and other quickie burger and chicken joints continue to multiply and spread across the world than faster than a family of bedbugs in a New York City row house (or slaughterhouse).

The meat, dairy, and egg industries have helped to morph humans into meat addicts who shovel animal parts into their mouths which serves only to increase the number of those who sicken and die from meat-related ailments including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. And the meat factories have raped and fouled the world's land, water, and air—and not without severe and soon-to-be deadly consequences for the planet.

Fast-forward 40 years: Today's scientists make it very clear that if meat-eaters don't greatly curb their addictions—or better yet, quit them, pronto—then by 2050, life is going to be very grim for humans, many of whom will be suffering and dying from starvation. And, as Reynard Loki's article "Rise of the Herbivores" points out, a million other species, including elephants, polar bears, and tigers, will already be long gone, unable to cope with climate change and dwindling habitats.

Loki's article also mentions points made in 2009 by the head of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, Jacque Diouf, who told attendees at a food-security conference that global food production would need to double by 2050 in order to head off mass hunger. But if humans don't check their meat addictions and if meat production continues as is, then by 2050, the livestock sector alone might either occupy the majority of, or significantly overshoot, recently published estimates of humanity's "safe operating space."

This dire situation has even flesh peddlers paying attention. A recent article on Meatingplace.com begins, "People need to begin limiting the amount of meat they eat to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, nitrate pollution, and habitat destruction, according to a new study by Canada's Dalhousie University."

Limiting one's intake of animal products is a good start, but going vegan—today—is the surest, most effective way to save animals, humans, and the planet tomorrow.

Written by Karin Bennett

A tree grows in Brooklyn … actually, many of them do. And from one of those trees, a pigeon dangled upside down from a piece of string that was caught around her leg and tangled on a tree branch two stories above a busy sidewalk, beside a busy street.

When a caring Brooklynite contacted PETA, the bird had already hung from that tree for days without food or water, surely full of panic and fear.

But luckily there are people—such as the Brooklynite who contacted us—who care enough to take action.

Local animal control agents lacked the equipment necessary to rescue the pigeon, but they referred our cruelty caseworker to the local fire department, which dispatched a truck minutes after PETA's call came in. Firefighters drove by to survey the situation and returned in a truck with a tall ladder, which they climbed to reach the bird.

The caller was on-site, and when firefighters handed her the pigeon—whose wounds were infested with maggots—she rushed the bird to a local veterinarian. Immediately realizing that the pigeon's back was broken, the vet was able to quickly release her from her suffering.

The anguish that pigeon endured during those days is almost incomprehensible. Hanging upside down with a broken back and suffering from extreme starvation and dehydration as maggots infested her open wounds, she must have been in severe pain. Had those caring persons—the caller, the cruelty caseworker, firefighters, and the vet—not stepped in to take action, who knows how long her suffering would have continued?

We've said it before, but it bears repeating: Please always be a person who helps an animal in need. You might be the first to take action, but if you reach out to others, you'll likely find people who care as much as you do.

Written by Karin Bennett

Stimpy was wasting away. Whether he had a medical condition or simply couldn't compete for food against the other, stronger dog on the property is not clear. But he was obviously suffering and slowly dying.

After weeks of watching Stimpy's condition deteriorate while waiting for local authorities to intervene, a concerned citizen called PETA and asked us to step in. Our cruelty caseworkers leaped into action and quickly convinced animal control officers to visit the property. Once the officers arrived, they acknowledged that Stimpy's situation was desperate and convinced Stimpy's guardian to surrender custody of him.

Stimpy is just one example of the countless "backyard dogs" suffering at the hands of neglectful guardians. While these people may not intentionally abuse animals, the end result is the same: misery, anguish, and often death.

Animals left outside are put at risk by a range of hazards—including parasites, diseases, and weather extremes as well as "bunchers" (people who steal animals and sell them to laboratories) and other cruel people.

Our cruelty caseworkers constantly receive calls about "backyard dogs" like Stimpy, and regardless of whether the call is from New York City or Small Town, Arkansas, the stories are almost always the same. We know that abuse and neglect can happen anywhere, at anytime, and dogs like Stimpy rely on people like you to be on the look out for their suffering. So regardless of whether you live in a metropolis or in the middle of a cornfield—please keep your eyes and ears peeled for mistreated animals and speak up whenever you suspect foul play.

Written by Jeff Mackey