WEF did not issue guidance to slaughter millions of pets to curb climate change

WEF did not issue guidance to slaughter millions of pets to curb climate change

(Reuters) - The World Economic Forum (WEF) did not issue advice to slaughter millions of pets to curb climate change. Online reports that it did are false.

Examples of the claim shared online can be found (here) and (here).

Reuters found no evidence that the organization suggested slaughtering pets, and searches through the WEF website did not reveal any such guidance (archive.vn/wip/UgC3L).

A Twitter advanced search did not reveal any social media post advocating for the slaughter of pets published via WEF’s official Twitter account (archive.vn/WR6Oz).

A spokesperson for the WEF told Reuters that no such guidance was issued.

The claims appear to stem from an article published by the website NewsPunch, which has posted false news in the past. It is viewable (archive.vn/1IDuQ), in a posting that says: “The World Economic Forum is now calling for millions of cats and dogs worldwide to be slaughtered in an effort to reduce the “carbon pawprint” they produce as a result of eating meat.”

The article adds that the organization has “ordered mainstream media outlets” to begin “pushing the narrative” that pet owners should euthanize their animals.

It links to an article published in September 2022 by CNN on the climate impact caused by having pets and ways to reduce the environmental consequences (here), archived (archive.vn/92eFJ).

The article does not suggest killing pets.

It refers to a 2017 study on the environmental impact caused by dog and cat food production (here), (archive.vn/sufvW).

“My study certainly didn’t encourage the slaughtering of animals to curb climate change,” Greg Okin, Professor and Chair, Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles and author of that study told Reuters.

“The purpose of the study is to provide information for people who wish to take this into account in their decision-making, much as information is provided about MPG for cars or energy usage for refrigerators, as well as to understand the scale of the impacts themselves,” he added.

An embedded video can also be seen within the article that features a faked WEF tweet calling for the slaughter of pets to curb climate change that reads: “Eliminating pet ownership will reduce dangerous carbon pawprints that contribute to climate change.”

A Twitter advance search did not reveal any such tweet, while a search through archived links of the WEF Twitter account saved in December similarly did not reveal the purported post (archive.vn/wip/3Gcf0), (here).

The WEF spokesperson told Reuters that the tweet was also fabricated.

Reuters has repeatedly fact checked no evidence claims shared by NewsPunch, with some examples viewable (here), (here). NewsPunch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

VERDICT

False. The WEF is not encouraging the slaughtering of animals to curb climate change.