Mercy for Animals

Public engagement: in 2022, Mercy for Animals' public engagement department reached millions with messages of compassion for farmed Animals and encouraged compassionate diet change through plant-based eating. We harnessed the power of social media, video content, traditional media, and celebrity partnerships, all in support of our campaigns to increase legal protections and corporate policies for farmed Animals. The social media team garnered 19 million online video views, 110 million impressions, and nearly 1.5 million chooseveg and Mercy for Animals blog views. Our public engagement department also secured media coverage from the new york times, cnn, the Washington post, vox, and other outlets, resulting in over 450 media hits in 2022.

Corporate engagement: the corporate engagement program plays a critical role in working with major food companies to drastically reduce or eliminate the suffering and cruel treatment of Animals in their supply chain, and to increase adoption and accessibility of plant-based products. This program conducts outreach and negotiations with food company executives and runs public campaigns to achieve progress and improved welfare for farmed Animals.

Investigations:in 2022, Mercy for Animals released four investigations, five drone videos, and one investigative documentary short, spanning several countries combined. In the u.s., we exposed an aldi chicken supplier, paving the way for our campaign asking the supermarket chain to make chicken welfare improvements. We also released harrowing footage of gestation-crate cruelty captured, just one week before the u.s. supreme court heard oral arguments in national pork producers council v. ross. This case threatened but failed to overturn California's prop 12, one of the strongest farmed animal protection laws. In brazil, we uncovered the harsh reality for chickens supplied to processors authorized to export to the european union, as well as the brutality suffered by cattle in slaughterhouses. In mexico, we uncovered animal cruelty at a chicken hatchery.

Mercy for Animals operates a number of other programs; including organizing and mobilizing volunteers to build a stronger movement; legal advocacy: the government affairs and public policy team focuses on policy measures to reduce suffering for farmed Animals and promote plant-based eating; and developing models to help factory farmers transition to plant-centerd businesses and conducting research that will empower the farmed animal protection movement.