Inspiring Global Action – 2019 Impact Report
Dear Friend,
Together, we were able to accomplish so much for animals together in 2019. I am truly amazed and incredibly thankful for your support. This past year was filled with significant victories and progress that will impact millions of animals trapped in factory farms and slaughterhouses around the world. As you read through the 2019 Impact Report, please know that this work would not be possible without your support. You give these animals a fighting chance and prevent needless cruelty and suffering.
On behalf of all of us at Animal Equality, thank you all for making 2019 an exceptional year for farmed animals!
Thank you!
2019 Impact by Numbers
Legal Advocacy
History Made in Jalisco, Mexico
Animal Equality’s undercover investigations into slaughterhouses in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, resulted in its state legislature overwhelmingly approving a landmark reform criminalizing cruelty to farmed animals.
This is the first time in the history of Mexico that cruelty to farmed animals is a criminal offense—punishable by up to 4 years in prison. It is a historic victory for farmed animals and one of the biggest achievements in Animal Equality’s history.
Animal Equality, as part of the Farmed-Animal Legislative Coalition, worked to pass legislation in Michigan banning the production and sale of eggs from hens confined in cages.
Animal Equality was involved with several lawsuits against companies, including Tyson Foods, for the deceptive marketing and advertising practices of their chicken products.
Animal Equality, along with several other organizations, filed a lawsuit against the USDA to strike down its inhumane high-speed pig slaughter rule.
Animal Equality, along with other animal protection groups, filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in support of the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s false-advertising lawsuit against Hormel Foods.
As part of the End The Cage Age European Citizen Initiative, Animal Equality collaborated with 130 public interest organizations to collect more than 1.5 million signatures calling on the European Commission to abolish all cages in the European Union.
Animal Equality, along with several public interest groups, filed a complaint challenging the constitutionality of Arkansas’s Ag-Gag law, which prohibits undercover investigations that expose abuses at factory farms and other businesses throughout the state.
Exposing Cruelty Through Investigations
We released 17 investigations in Italy, the U.K., Spain, Mexico, the United States, India, and Brazil.
We exposed the tortures inflicted on chickens, hens, pigs, cows, buffalo, ducks, geese, sheep, and turkeys raised and killed for food.
Animal rights activist and actress, Rooney Mara, joined Animal Equality on an investigation inside two factory farms, revealing pigs and chickens raised for meat trapped in abhorrent conditions. The investigation shares the many reasons the global community must break its dependence on animal products.
Animal Equality led an international campaign calling for a ban on all animal sacrifice at the Gadhimai festival, the largest animal sacrifice in the world. Our team traveled to the festival in Nepal and documented the massacre of thousands of animals by festival attendees.
We conducted our first-ever investigation in the United States and exposed a pattern of severe neglect at Summit Calf Ranch in Nebraska. The facility housed 11,000 calves and is owned by Tuls Dairy a supplier of Bel Brands, producer of Babybel and The Laughing Cow cheese.
In collaboration with TG2, Italy’s national media outlet, our investigation team, along with Tg2 journalist and host Piergiorgio Giacovazzo, documented atrocities inside a pig farm in Northern Italy.
Animal Equality sent investigators to document the extreme and far-reaching devastation of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and its connection to animal agriculture.
Three farm workers were convicted of animal abuse in the United Kingdom as a result of Animal Equality’s undercover investigation at Fir Tree Farm in Lincolnshire, the United Kingdom in 2018.
When my husband and I decided to take a percentage of our income and give it back to the animal rights organizations who were having the most positive impact, Animal Equality was on the top of our list!
Lauren Herrschaft
Animal Allies Member
Corporate Progress
International Commitments
We convinced 44 companies worldwide to adopt animal protection policies that will reduce the suffering of more than 23 million chickens used for meat and eggs each year. Of these include an international commitment with the Hilton hotel chain, our first commitment in the US with Denny’s, our first commitment in Germany with FRoSTA, and the first egg producer in Brazil to commit to phasing out cages, Ovos Filippsen.
Ongoing Campaigns
We continued our campaign to encourage McDonald’s to adopt more meaningful standards that would reduce the horrific suffering of the millions of chickens in its meat supply chain. We hosted numerous regional demonstrations, ad campaigns, and online actions including a demonstration at McDonald’s yearly shareholder meeting. Animal Equality also purchased a billboard positioned directly across the street from the New York Times’ newsroom during New York Advertising Week in conjunction with leafleters, mobile billboards, and geotargeted ads surrounding McDonald’s flagship locations.
We conducted informational campaigns about the cruelty involved in keeping hens used for eggs in cages, focusing on companies such as the popular bakery in Mexico Pastelería Marisa; Brazilian cake and snack company, Sodiê; and discount retailer, DIA, in Spain.
Our international corporate outreach volunteer network, Animal Protectors, grew to nearly 75,000 individuals.
Raising Awareness
Media & Events
Animal Equality staff, volunteers, and partners featured our groundbreaking and award-winning virtual reality series, iAnimal, at over 600 events and schools worldwide, with a potential media reach of over 8 million.
We conducted outreach at some of the largest outreach events, including South by Southwest (SXSW), Earth X, Animal Rights National Conference, Eat Drink Vegan, and Texas Veggie Fair.
We completed our 13th iAnimal Outreach Tour at universities throughout Texas, reaching nearly 1,000 students.
We can’t do this alone. Join us!
Donate to a charity you can trust. You helped Animal Equality make last year a historic year for the animals. You can help build on that progress, making 2020 the year we save more animals than ever. Thank you!
Animal Equality is a Top-Rated Nonprofit on GreatNonprofits, is a Disability Confident Employer and has a GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.
Looking Forward in 2020
Thank you for all you do for animals. Your continued support makes all of our work possible and brings us closer to a world where all animals are respected and protected.
I am confident that together, we will make a tremendous impact for farmed animals in 2020 and the new decade to come!
