Russia is a very poor performer under the VACI (on par with Iran), and is ranked fourth worst out of the countries surveyed.
If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.
Leo Tolstoy
Russia is a very poor performer under the VACI (on par with Iran), and is ranked fourth worst out of the countries surveyed.
Russia slaughters around 16.3 land-based animals per person / year, which is significantly higher than the global average of 9.7. The country’s dependency on farm animals is moderate, with around 3.9 farm animals per person (compared with a global average of around 4). Factory farming is prevalent in poultry production and is growing in pig meat production.
The Russian diet contains a relatively high proportion of animal products, with around 51% of the average person’s diet being made up of land-based animal protein (compared with a global average of 35.2%). This equates to each person consuming around 48.6g of land-based animal protein per day (compared with a global average of 26.7g). A 2014 survey found about 3% of Russians were vegetarian.
Russia was given an “F” under the Animal Protection Index (API), and is a moderate performer under the Sanctioning Cruelty category. According to the API, there is no evidence that Russia has developed any policy or legislation for the protection or welfare of farm animals. Learn more about the quality of Russia’s legislative protections on the API here.