• Our World In Data: Meat production by livestock type, World, 1961 to 2021 This graph shows sheep and goats as the 4rth most consumed type of land animal.

In addition to eating or starving out various species, predators are often targeted by farmers, hunters, and even government agencies to "protect" livestock including goats and their kids. Unfortunately hunting predators has been scientifically proven to be problematic on many levels, causing issues including:

• Species extinction

• Traps and poison that kill unintended victims (sometimes endangered species, children, and family pets)

• Mesopredator release - non-apex predators experience population explosions resulting in more livestock and crop loss

• Prey animal population explosions - without predators to keep them in check, herbivore populations can explode, causing them to eat everything including crops, which can then result in profit loss and localized extinctions.

The following species have suffered terrible losses to the sheep farming industry and illegal persecution from farmers:

Organochlorine Residues in Animal Products

"Organochlorine pesticides accumulate in the fat of animals and their concentration in body fat can be much greater than in soil. Organochlorine pesticides are slowly excreted and are broken down very gradually in animal livers. It can take several months for the concentration of organochlorine pesticides in an animal’s fat to reduce by half once the animal is no longer being exposed to organochlorine pesticides. Organochlorine pesticides can also accumulate in wool and lanolin, and milk. Animals are exposed to organochlorine No. 2 Sheep Dip Factsheet ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES 01 Swim through dip Source: Tasman District Council pesticides through soil ingestion (including soil attached to grass roots), by drinking contaminated water and to a lesser extent through feed and contaminated dust. Sheep eat an estimated 125 g of soil per day and cows about 1kg. Wet muddy conditions, short pasture, feeding out of hay and silage, and consumption of fodder crops such as turnips and chowmollier can increase the amount of soil eaten by stock. Where residues are present, animals that dig or disturb the soil, including pigs, chickens and bulls, will have increased exposure to organochlorine pesticides. There are regulatory limits under organochlorine pesticides (Maximum Residue Limits or MRLs) in animal products, including meat, fat, milk, offal, poultry and eggs. Organochlorine residues in animal products are a risk to local and international trade and farmers can be prosecuted if organochlorine residues exceed regulatory limits. In 1987 Australian meat exports to the United States and Japan were banned because of detections of organochlorine residues in meat. The Australian ‘Beef Crisis’ cost millions of dollars in lost product, and on-farm management practices for organochlorines remain in place today. In 2007 NZ beef exports to Korea were suspended when endosulfan (a newer organochlorine insecticide licensed for use on plants) was detected in a consignment of beef." - Sheep Dip Factsheet (PDF)

Scroll down on the Personal Care & Hygiene page to find apps and lists of products that avoid animal products such as lanolin.