Americans are becoming more and more concerned with animal welfare. A 2015 Gallup poll found that 62 percent of Americans said animals deserve some legal protections. Another 32 percent — nearly one-third — expressed an even stronger pro-animal stance, saying they believe animals should get the same rights as people. In 2008, only 25 percent voiced that view.
If you are serious about stopping animal cruelty but don’t exactly know how to, there are a number of animal charities you can donate to that are focused on strategies that aim to improve animal conditions on factory farms—-or to get around factory farming altogether by promoting the transition to a plant-based diet. To make sure you can confidently donate to a charity that will actually use your money for good, Animal Charity Evaluators has selected four top charities that are verifiably making a difference. You can find these charities below.
The Albert Schweitzer Foundation: This group does outreach to corporations to demand they use humanely raised products. It also does legal work; for example, it defended undercover investigators in a case in Germany.
The Good Food Institute: This organization promotes the development of delicious plant-based alternatives to meat, dairy, and eggs. (Think Impossible Burgers and Beyond Meat.) It also offers business, legal, scientific, and strategic advice to plant-based companies, and advocates for regulations that won’t penalize their products in the consumer market. In the long run, developing plant-based foods could prove very effective at weakening the animal agriculture industry.
The Humane League: This organization runs successful campaigns urging corporations to adopt higher animal welfare standards. It also conducts grassroots legislative advocacy. Importantly, it has an evidence-driven outlook, collecting and using data to guide its approach, and testing new ways to improve its programs.
Anima International: This group runs corporate campaigns, releases undercover investigations, organizes protests and conferences on animal advocacy, and pushes restaurants and foodservice companies to make plant-based options available. It’s also been building the capacity of the animal advocacy movement, including in neglected countries with young movements.
