South Africa is a marginally adequate performer under the VACI (on par with Uruguay).
Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals.
J.M. Coetzee
South Africa is a marginally adequate performer under the VACI (on par with Uruguay).
South Africa slaughters around 18.1 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 pig and poultry production, and is also common in cattle farming with the use of feedlots.
The South African diet contains a high proportion of animal products, with around 41.1% of the average person’s diet being made up of land-based animal protein (compared with a global average of 35.2%). This is the highest amount consumed of all the African countries surveyed, and equates to each person consuming around 34.6g of land-based animal protein per day (compared with a global average of 26.7g).
South Africa was given a “D” under the Animal Protection Index (API), and is a moderate performer under the Sanctioning Cruelty category. According to the API, South Africa’s animal welfare legislation is poorly implemented. Learn more about the quality of South Africa’s legislative protections on the API here.