Mexico is a marginal performer (“D”) under the VACI. The country has a higher than average dependence on animal production and consumption, and its farmed animal protection legislative framework is lacking.
Want to compare Mexico’s 2020 VACI performance?
Download the 2017 VACI Report for Mexico here.
Mexico slaughters around 14.8 land-based animals per person per year, compared with the global average of 10.1. They are a major exporter of live animals and the livestock sector is growing steadily. The country’s dependence on farmed animals is already higher than average, with around 5.3 farmed animals per person, versus a global average of 4.1. Factory farming has become widespread, particularly with pigs, chickens and other farmed birds. Mexico allows horse slaughter leading to substantial live horse imports and slaughter of a very high number of horses per capita.
The Mexican diet contains a relatively high proportion of animal products, with around 44% of the average Mexican’s diet made up of land-based animal protein, compared to the global average of 35.2%. Each person consumes around 39.4g of land-based animal protein per day, versus a global average of 27.2g.
Mexico is rated as an adequate performer (“C”) under the Animal Protection Index (API), although its farmed animal protection legislation achieved a marginal performance (“D”) rating under the same index. Rearing and transport animal welfare standards are absent or inadequate while regulation and enforcement of animal protection legislation is decentralised to the state-level, leading to varying degrees of rigour in implementation. Learn more about the quality of Mexico’s legislative protections on the API here.