Anima International

During this morning's Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals at the European Parliament, the Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare confirmed that the revision of animal welfare legislation in the EU will be done 'species by species' but gave no details as to which species will come first. If true, this seems important, as the Commission is still talking about multiple species rather than just restricting to one.

How do we ensure our passion doesn’t get in the way of making the right choices? Are we ready to let go of something that works? At the end of last year, our team in France made a bold pivot: abandoning their successful meatless catering campaign to focus entirely on freeing hens from cages. Keyvan Mostafavi, who leads our work in France, shares his insights from this journey in the latest blog post. He talks about questioning assumptions, making data-driven decisions, overcoming personal limitations, and prioritizing animals over organizational identity. Find out what lead to this strategic change and how the French team found their new path with a greater impact for animals (link in the comments) ⬇️ #AnimalWelfare #OrganizationalChange #StrategicShift

💔 One of the biggest causes of animal suffering is the use of fast-growing chicken breeds, also known as “frankenchickens”. They are bred to gain weight so rapidly that their bodies can’t keep up. This means a lifetime of severe pain and discomfort, or even death from organ failure. 🇩🇰 Our Danish team is fighting to improve the lives of the chickens raised for meat. 🤝🏻 We believe that major food businesses can be our partners in creating change for animals. We regularly talk with companies, addressing welfare concerns and helping them move away from unacceptably cruel practices. But when constructive dialogue stalls, we reach for creative action. 🪧 In January, we displayed a live stream from a chicken farm on a big screen directly outside the headquarters of a Danish retailer Coop. Bringing the cruel reality of a factory farm to their doorstep, we showed them the real-life impact of their policies, urging them to drop fast-growing chickens. 🪧 Last week, we showed up to a new McDonalds opening in Copenhagen, carrying oversized "inspection reports" with sad smileys – a spin on Denmark's well-known food safety rating system. 👎🏻 Both McDonalds and Coop in Denmark are lagging behind the competitors in fulfilling their promises of implementing higher welfare standards. 🗳️ Behind the scenes, we also making policy change happen. Thanks to our work, 11 Danish municipalities (and counting!) excluded fast-growing breeds from their purchases. 🎉 Why does this matter? Danish municipalities are major meat purchasers, providing meals for schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and elderly care homes. Each such policy change impacts hundreds of thousands of animals. With this mix of grassroots campaigning, corporate engagement, and policy work, we believe we can achieve real change. And we’re happy to see more businesses and policymakers stepping up for animals. 🙌🏻 #animalrights #animalactivism #animalwelfare #frankenchicken

Yesterday our president Kirsty Henderson represented animal interests at an event organised by Eurogroup for Animals and Compassion in World Farming in Brussels. 🇪🇺 EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi outlined the European Commission's plans for improving animal welfare legislation. We’re hoping that concrete actions will follow. #animaladvocacy #animalwelfare #EUPolicy

As of 1 February 2025, fur farming is officially illegal in Norway. 🎉 The country passed the ban in 2019, allowing a six-year phase-out period. However, the last farms closed ahead of schedule in early 2023. 🇳🇴 Norway was once one of the biggest fur producers in the world with over 1000 fur farms. Now it has joined a growing list of European countries that have ended fur farming. The Norwegian industry’s decline and eventual legal ban were the result of two decades of work by animal advocates. By exposing the cruelty of fur farming, and educating the public, they gained widespread support for the issue and the political power to influence this change 💪🏻 📉 Fortunately, the fur trade worldwide is showing signs of weakening. A recent report from the organisation ACTAsia showed that production in China – the global fur industry leader – dropped by 60% in the years 2022/23. 🦊 However, millions of animals still suffer on fur farms. The work continues as we push for a ban in Poland (the world's 2nd biggest producer) and advocate alongside other organisations for an EU-wide ban on fur farming and the sale of fur products. #animaladvocacy #animalrights #furfreeEurope

❗Promising news from Slovenia! 🇸🇮 Their Ministry of Agriculture issued an official statement announcing a goal of “no more caged animal husbandry in Slovenia after 2028” and declaring itself “in favor of abandoning caged animal husbandry”. This goal is not yet reflected by legislation. For now, the government provides financial incentives for farmers to improve animal living conditions and comply with higher welfare standards. 💸 👏🏻 Kudos to Animal Enterprise Transparency Project (AETP) for their great work and successful campaigning on this issue. The ministerial statement points to footage from their investigations as one of the factors for taking action. This shows that exposing the cruelty of cages and factory farming can have a real impact for the animals. 📸 🐔 🐖 #endthecageage #animalrights #cagefree

700 visitors, 28 market participants, 15 media mentions and Anima logo on the largest indoor stadium in Central Asia - this is the result of the organization of the first vegan festival in Uzbekistan. Many people did not believe that such a thing was possible in Uzbekistan. There was a new volunteer team and a lot of difficulties. But we put in a lot of hard work and managed to do it. 

🐔 What are cage-free credits, and how do they help free hens from cages? It’s a way for food companies and retailers to support farmers transitioning away from cruel cage farming systems. It allows the companies to take responsibility for their cage-free commitments, accelerating the changes in their supply chains, instead of waiting for them to catch up. For those interested in effective animal advocacy, this is a promising development worth understanding. 📰 This Forbes article gives a good overview of this new initiative, featuring a range of perspectives from the animal advocacy movement. https://lnkd.in/gG2JEtdn Global Food Partners, The Humane League, Compassion in World Farming, Lewis Bollard #cagefree #animalwelfare

Looking to make a meaningful impact in animal advocacy for 2025? 🐔 🦐 🦀 In our recent blog post, Jakub Stencel shares his recommendations of promising organizations working to reduce animal suffering globally—from insect welfare research to AI ethics. These groups are doing crucial work with limited resources, where even modest support can be transformative. Check out Jakub's list of trailblazing organizations making waves in neglected but crucial areas of animal advocacy👉🏻https://lnkd.in/d-wJtzFs

⌛📆Our President Kirsty Henderson looks back on our work in 2024 “I think a fair argument can be made that, as Yuval Noah Harari says in the introduction of Peter Singer’s ‘Animal Liberation’— Animals are the main victims of history, and the treatment of domesticated animals in industrial farms is perhaps the worst crime in history. The reason Anima International exists is to put an end to this crime.” 🐔 🦊 🐮 From fighting for change for chickens farmed for meat, to shaping the future of the food system – our teams in Denmark, Poland, Norway, UK, France, Bulgaria, and beyond 🌍did their best to move us closer to a world free from animal suffering. Read what we did for animals in 2024 👉🏻 https://lnkd.in/d2FAaX8A