How many downed animals are there in the United States?
According to USDA, Nobody knows the exact number [of downed cattle]; however, an estimate of 195,000 per year was obtained from a survey conducted by American Association of Bovine Practitioners (Hansen et. al., 1999) members. The incidence of downed pigs is estimated to range from .1 to .9 percent of the 103 million pigs slaughtered annually, or between 103,000 and 927,000 animals. There are currently no estimates available for sheep, goats or equine species.
