Positive Animal Advocacy News from Around the Globe (#3)
Guess who just turned 80? Plus: we are truly a global movement!
Hi friend,
How are you holding up? I just published an article about finding hope after the election (for everyone, not just animal advocates) and now I’m ready to publish this newsletter.
When I started this positive animal advocacy news blog, I wasn’t sure how often I should send positive news updates: would there be enough to share for weekly posts?
At least for now, the answer is yes. Yay!
What makes this week’s edition especially exciting? The first two editions were heavily focused on positive developments in the US and Germany (the two countries I’m most familiar with).
Now that I’m getting more used to writing these updates, let’s go wider? What positive developments can we find around the globe?
Here we go:
Positive Vegan and Animal Advocacy News From Across the Globe
World Vegan Day turns 30 / The Vegan Society turns 80!
In 1994, Louise Wallis, the former president of The Vegan Society, created World Vegan Day to commemorate the organization’s 50th birthday.
On November 1, 2024, World Vegan Day celebrated its 30th anniversary, showing us how much more mainstream veganism has become in the last few decades.
But hold on, doesn’t that mean we have another anniversary to celebrate?
That’s right, The Vegan Society is turning 80! So, let’s take a moment to celebrate the early pioneers in our movement:
The Vegan Society was founded in November 1944 by Donald Watson, his future wife Dorothy Morgan, and four other friends (including Elsie Shrigley and George and Fay Hendersons).
Donald Watson's journey as an animal advocate began in his youth, when he was horrified by the slaughter of animals on his uncle's farm. He became vegetarian at age 14. After learning about the ethical implications of dairy production, he adopted a vegan lifestyle around 1944.
Watson and his colleagues tried to create a community that could advocate for a lifestyle devoid of animal exploitation. However, the London Vegetarian Society rejected their non-dairy stance as extreme and antisocial. So, they established their own organization instead.
Watson coined the term vegan by taking the first three letters and the last two letters of “vegetarian” because "veganism starts with vegetarianism and carries it through to its logical conclusion."
According to Shrigley, the day of the founding meeting was "a Sunday, with sunshine and a blue sky — an auspicious day for the birth of an idealistic movement.” Beautiful, isn’t it?
Thank you for your service!
New Animal Charity recommendations highlight particularly effective animal charities around the world
Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) just announced its 2024 charity recommendations, spotlighting organizations like Çiftlik Hayvanlarını Koruma Derneği (ÇHKD), Dansk Vegetarisk Forening (DVF), and Sinergia Animal. ÇHKD has secured over 30 cage-free commitments in Türkiye (benefitting around 850,000 hens annually), while DVF has influenced the equivalent of USD 14 million in Danish government funding toward plant-based foods
Sinergia Animal focuses on reducing farmed animal suffering in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, Peru, and Thailand.
As these diverse recommendations show, Animal Advocacy is truly a global movement, and progress is being made around the globe.
Organizations recommended by ACE promise significant benefits for animals at relatively low costs, making them excellent choices for donations.
For instance, ACE estimates that combined, Sinergia Animal’s cage-free corporate campaigns, institutional meat reduction campaign, and pig welfare program could positively impact hundreds of animals per dollar spent.
But wait, it gets better! Right now, ACE has a matching challenge. Thanks to a generous donor, every dollar we donate will currently be matched (up to a total of 300,000). For instance, if you donate $20, ACE’s recommended charities will receive $40!
Find out more about ACE’s recommendations here.
(To find out more why it’s important to make sure our donations are as effective as possible, check out my brief article here.)
The next generation of African Animal Advocates is getting trained now!
Animal Advocacy Africa had just started its second training program for Animal Advocates across Africa. Here’s what it does:
“The programme is designed to equip participants with skills for effective animal advocacy, increase their understanding of farmed animal welfare issues, and explore solutions to mitigate the rise of industrial animal agriculture in African countries. Through this initiative, we aim to cultivate a network of advocates prepared to launch new farmed animal advocacy initiatives or join existing organisations within Africa.”
When Animal Advocacy Africa launched its training program in 2023, it received ~ 300 applications (for 20 spots) so there’s clearly a huge demand for these types of training on the African continent!
Find out more about Animal Advocacy Africa here.
Positive plant-based trends and goals in China, the world’s largest meat consumer
Good news from the world’s largest meat consumer: The Chinese government plans to reduce meat consumption by 50% by 2030.
And a recent survey in China revealed that a vast majority of Chinese people might be on board with changing their diet! The survey, conducted by Kantar for ProVeg International, showed that 98% of Chinese consumers would be willing to increase their intake of plant-based foods if they were informed about its benefits.
(Guess who was the group least willing to change their diet to more plant-based options? The vegans! While 61% of omnivores and 36% of flexitarians indicated a strong willingness to change their diets, only 1% of vegans said the same. Hahaha! I can just imagine their inner monologue: “Preaching to the choir here, bro. I mean, seriously, how much more Kale do you expect me to eat?” It’s funny when the only ones unwilling to change based on plant-based propaganda are those who already have. #lifegoals)
This indicates a strong potential for growth in the vegan market in China.
How to Help Animals
It feels great to read through positive news. What’s even better is to contribute to them!
Remember, the whole animal advocacy movement is still in its early phase, and we can use all hands on deck. That means that your contribution is uniquely valuable and important at this time.
This is true regardless of where you are on the journey of changing your personal diet!
You don’t have to be a full-fledged vegan before starting your animal advocacy journey. I have been wanting to reduce animal suffering since I was a child, long before I ever heard about veganism. Dr. Melanie Joy, a prominent leader in the movement, advises everyone to “be as vegan as possible.”
Similarly, Hive, a huge online community of Animal Advocates (see point No. 4 below) has the following guidelines for joining: “While the majority of members work/volunteer at animal advocacy organizations and self-identify as vegan/vegetarian, we do not exclude people who are at a different stage in their career or a different point in their diet journey. We welcome anyone who has a sincere desire to be more effective in helping non-human animals.”
Here’s how you can be a part of the solution:
You can donate to an organization that effectively advocates for animals, such as the Animal Charity Evaluators. (I have donated to them before and had a great experience). You can find out more about effective animal welfare donations here.
You can volunteer for animals. If you don’t have a lot of time, the Humane League’s Fast Action Network might be a good choice, as it allows you to contribute when you can (for instance, while waiting in a queue). If you have more time, you can find a lot of volunteering opportunities here.
If you are not yet a vegan, you can become a vegan ally (see this YouTube video for an explanation) and support the cause by reducing your consumption of animal products. If you want support in becoming more vegan, there are many vegan challenges, such as this one.
If you would like community, you can join Hive Newsletter’s Slack channel and connect with 3000+ animal advocates. I recently joined and it’s amazing! My only regret is that I didn’t join earlier. :)
Warmly,
Louise
P.S.: I started a positive vegan/animal advocacy newsletter because I believe most of us could benefit a lot from reading about all the good things that are happening in this place. For me personally, it helps me stay motivated and hopeful, and I suspect the same is true for many other people.
Our movement has an incredibly ambitious goal, and we won’t get there within weeks or months. So, it’s important to keep the faith.
If you know people who want to reduce the suffering of animals, could you please share this newsletter with them? Anything helps: sharing it on Social Media or elsewhere, liking this post, commenting, emailing it to a friend, etc.
Thank you!
I always liked how poetic the explanation of how the term vegan started (start and end of vegetarianism), but it was great to read about it in context and to learn more about the beginnings of veganism and how excuses, to not go vegan, haven't changed much.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I love that you're focusing on good news! It's so refreshing to see positive updates in animal advocacy... it’s motivating and reminds us of the progress being made. I also really enjoy listening to The Vegan Society's podcast, so it’s great to see them mentioned here. Thanks for sharing these stories!