It’s perfect timing for me to resume this column this month, as the Alliance just wrapped up our release of reports from five prominent animal rights activists conferences held throughout 2022. These reports are some of the most valuable resources the Alliance offers to our members and the broader animal agriculture community, as they allow us to hear animal rights activist groups’ true intentions and upcoming strategies straight from the horse’s mouth (I’m guessing that phrase is on PETA’s list of “speciesest” language, but oh well).

One of the benefits to the hybrid working world is that we’ve been able to release reports from additional conferences over the past few years, as most are still offering a virtual option. The conferences we have insights from this year include: Humane Society of the United States’ Taking Action for Animals (TAFA) Conference (held July 16-17), The Rancher Advocacy Program’s (RAP) Summit (held July 30), Animal Place’s Farmed Animal Conference E-Summit (FACES) (held September 16-18), Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) Animal Law Symposium (held September 24), and ALDF and the Center for Animal Law Studies’ Animal Law Conference (held Nov. 4-6).

While different activist groups have different approaches to advocating for animal rights, there were some common themes and topics across the conferences. These included calls for making more emotional appeals to the public (including children) to support animal rights and go vegan, encouraging the filming of additional “undercover videos” in plants and on farms that can be used in court cases, legislative campaigns and public outreach, and urging activists to get more involved politically — both by running for office themselves and pressuring legislators to include animal rights in their political agendas.

Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. Here are some direct quotes from the various conferences that touch on these strategies and other trends:

“All of these programs are working together with classroom work to foster the social disapproval around the consumption of animal products while normalizing plant-based foods.”
“When we do our lessons [to schoolchildren], we target the audience’s emotions by creating a story about the suffering and destruction that factory farming causes and students are now primed for us to help them connect the story of factory farming to the story of who they are.”
“[Leaders for Ethics, Animals & Planet (L.E.A.P.)] is the first nation-wide organization to reach the hearts of young people who are interested in agriculture, to steer them away from FFA, 4-H or other ag programs.”
“It’s very effective because kids at that age are, I don’t want to say malleable, but they are so open to new ideas. So, this is when you have to get to them.”
“Our job as animal lawyers and advocates is to use the industry's misdeeds as an opportunity to talk about what they're doing and sensitize the public to what this industry really is all about.”
“[Undercover] investigations are a foundational aspect of our work as we bring light to the darkness of factory farming.”
“Break through and garner attention on Capitol Hill. A compelling undercover investigation and resulting media coverage can make all the difference.”
“We’re here to unite, to disrupt, to transform and I believe that the vegan movement can do that very effectively through rhetoric, storytelling, and films.”
“The clock is ticking; we have to transition to a plant-based lifestyle to avoid a climate apocalypse.”
“The International Panel on Climate Change, the numbers that they’ve crunched show that animal agriculture releases more greenhouse gases into the environment than the entire transportation sector combined.”
“How do we appeal to them [legislations]? One way is money and one is fear.”
“Putting pressure on corporations is a really big part of our work.”
“Let’s bury this [animal ag] industry.”
“I get tired of people saying “go vegan!” It’s not working out guys, we’re losing that battle... Global meat consumption is on the rise; we’re eating far more meat now than we were in previous generations and that is hugely concerning. I think if we are making it just about personal choice, that is a problem. This is a systemic issue and we should be addressing it as such.”
“We must do more than just protect animals from cruelty. We must recognize their intrinsic worth as deserving of species-specific rights.”

These quotes should motivate all of us in animal agriculture to amp up our own efforts to engage with the audiences that are being targeted by these organizations with emotional appeals about animal protein that don’t exactly align with the facts.

From the mouths of animal rights activists

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