Formation | 2005 |
---|---|
Type | Non-profit |
Purpose | Animal rights, animal welfare |
Headquarters | Rockville, Maryland |
Region served | United States |
President | Vicky Bond |
Website | thehumaneleague |
The Humane League (THL) is an international nonprofit organization that works to end the abuse of animals raised for food through corporate, media and community outreach. It operates in the United States, Mexico, the UK and Japan. THL promotes plant-based diets, conducts research on the effectiveness of different interventions, and works to obtain animal welfare commitments from companies. [1] It was founded in 2005 in Philadelphia by Nick Cooney. [2]
THL was awarded more than $20 million in grants from the Open Philanthropy Project, [3] [4] [5] and has been one of the top recommendations of Animal Charity Evaluators since 2012. [1]
THL had been involved in over 100 campaigns to convince global companies to pledge using only non-battery cage eggs after a certain date, [6] including Sodexo, [7] Mariott International, [8] Costco, Grupo Bimbo, Starbucks, Compass Group, and Dunkin' Donuts. The Open Philanthropy Project wrote in 2015 that "Other leading organizations in corporate campaigns have consistently reported to us that THL plays a key role in these campaigns." [9]
Following negotiations with THL, United Egg Producers—which represents companies that produce 95% of all eggs produced in the United States—announced that it will eliminate the culling of male chicks by 2020. Chick culling refers to the routine killing of male chicks (which are useless for meat or egg-laying), usually by gassing or grinding them alive. [10] United Egg Producers continued chick culling despite this commitment, stating in 2021 that it was still searching for "an ethical, economically feasible alternative to the practice of male chick culling at hatcheries". [11] [12]
THL also promotes the adoption by companies of the European Chicken Commitment, which seeks to improve the welfare of broiler chicken in intensive animal farms. [1]
In 2021, THL released a report which found that "99% of U.S. store-brand chickens" were afflicted by white striping, [13] a poultry disease that causes "elevated serum creatine kinase levels, increased fat content in pectoral muscle, gross white striations in the direction of muscle fiber, and hypertrophy of pectoral muscle which are similar to observations in hereditary muscular dystrophy". [14]
THL seeks to strengthen the animal advocacy movement. It provides grants, increases collaboration between organizations, hosts online volunteer initiatives, organizes events, and helps with recruiting and training. [15]
THL created in 2016 the Open Wing Alliance, a global coalition of more than 100 animal welfare organizations aiming to end the use of cages in egg production. [16] [17] In the following years, THL received millions of dollars of donation from the Open Philanthropy Project to continue to grow and sustain the Open Wing Alliance. [18]
Since 2008, THL has been educating the public about intensive animal farming and advocating for a vegan lifestyle. THL uses social networks, online ads, media, leaflets, cookbooks and newsrack. [15]
THL founded in 2013 a research unit called "The Humane League Labs" that evaluates on the effectiveness of different animal advocacy tactics. [19] As of June 2016, The Humane League Labs is planning to conduct research on the degree to which farm animal advocacy motivates the purchase of vegan products [20] and on the effectiveness of online vegan outreach. [21] Vegan Publishers has criticized the methodology and reporting of previous Humane League Lab studies. [22]
THL's online vegan advocacy ads have been discussed and critiqued on LessWrong [23] and by negative utilitarian Brian Tomasik. [24]
Partly as a result of the Animal Charity Evaluators recommendation, THL has been viewed positively in the effective altruism movement. Raising for Effective Giving lists THL as a standout animal welfare charity. [25] The Chronicle of Philanthropy cited an example of an effective altruist who chose to pursue a career in finance so that he could pursue earning to give, donating large sums to The Humane League to help it spend more aggressively in pursuit of its goals. [26]
As of August 2023 [update] , THL has been listed as a top charity by Animal Charity Evaluators since August 2012, with the most updated review in 2021. [1]
The Open Philanthropy Project made several grants for "general support": $1 million in 2016, [27] $10 million in 2018, [5] $7 million in 2021 [4] and $8.3 million in 2022. [3] It also made grants for THL to support and expand the Open Wing Alliance. [28] It also made grants for specific projects such as cage-free campaigns [9] or for helping THL to support the Open Wing Alliance. [18]
Debeaking, beak trimming, or beak conditioning, is the partial removal of the beak of poultry, especially layer hens and turkeys, although it may also be performed on quail and ducks. Most commonly, the beak is shortened permanently, although regrowth can occur. The trimmed lower beak is somewhat longer than the upper beak. A similar but separate practice, usually performed by an avian veterinarian or an experienced birdkeeper, involves clipping, filing or sanding the beaks of captive birds for health purposes – in order to correct or temporarily to alleviate overgrowths or deformities and better allow the bird to go about its normal feeding and preening activities. Amongst raptor-keepers, this practice is commonly known as "coping".
Animal Aid is a British animal rights organisation, founded in 1977 by Jean Pink. The group campaigns peacefully against the consumption of animals as food and against animal cruelty such as their use for medical research—and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle. It also investigates and exposes animal abuse.
Chick culling or unwanted chick killing is the process of separating and killing unwanted chicks for which the intensive animal farming industry has no use. It occurs in all industrialised egg production, whether free range, organic, or battery cage. However, some certified pasture-raised egg farms are taking steps to eliminate the practice entirely. Worldwide, around 7 billion male chicks are culled each year in the egg industry. Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those in breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industry and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived or after they hatch. Some methods of culling that do not involve anaesthetics include: cervical dislocation, asphyxiation by carbon dioxide, and maceration using a high-speed grinder. Maceration is the primary method in the United States. Maceration is often a preferred method over carbon dioxide asphyxiation in western countries as it is often considered as "more humane" due to the deaths occurring immediately or within a second.
Animal welfare and rights in Israel is about the treatment of and laws concerning nonhuman animals in Israel. Israel's major animal welfare law is the Animal Protection Law, passed in 1994, which has been amended several times since. Several other laws also related to the treatment of animals: Rabies Ordinance, 1934; Fishing Ordinance, 1937; Public Health Ordinance, 1940; Wildlife Protection Law, 1955; Plants Protection Law, 1956; Criminal Procedure Law, 1982; Animal Disease Ordinance, 1985; National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Memorial Sites Law, 1991; the Law of Veterinarians, 1991; Dog Regulation Law, 2002; Rabies Regulations (Vaccinations), 2005; and Prohibition on declawing cats unless for reasons vital to the cat's health or owner's health, 2011.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. It works on issues including pets, wildlife, farm animals, horses and other equines, and animals used in research, testing and education. As of 2001, the group's major campaigns targeted factory farming, hunting, the fur trade, puppy mills, and wildlife abuse.
Ovo vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which allows for the consumption of eggs but not dairy products, in contrast with lacto vegetarianism. Those who practice ovo vegetarianism are called ovo-vegetarians. "Ovo" comes from the Latin word for egg.
Battery cages are a housing system used for various animal production methods, but primarily for egg-laying hens. The name arises from the arrangement of rows and columns of identical cages connected, in a unit, as in an artillery battery. Although the term is usually applied to poultry farming, similar cage systems are used for other animals. Battery cages have generated controversy between advocates for animal welfare and industrial producers.
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers.
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is an international grassroots network of animal rights activists founded in 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area. DxE uses disruptive protests and non-violent direct action tactics, such as open rescue of animals from factory farms. Their intent is to build a movement that can eventually shift culture and change social and political institutions. DxE activists work to "put an end to the commodity status of animals."
Open Philanthropy is a research and grantmaking foundation that makes grants based on the doctrine of effective altruism. It was founded as a partnership between GiveWell and Good Ventures. Its current chief executive officer is Alexander Berger, and its main funders are Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz. Moskovitz says that their wealth, worth $16 billion, "belongs to the world. We intend not to have much when we die."
This timeline describes major events in the history of animal welfare and animal rights.
Animal welfare and rights in Canada is about the laws concerning and treatment of nonhuman animals in Canada. Canada has been considered to have weak animal welfare protections by the organization World Animal Protection. The vast majority of Canadians are for further animal protections, according to a poll conducted on behalf of Mercy for Animals.
The Global Animal Partnership (GAP) is a nonprofit which seeks to promote the welfare of farmed animals by rating the welfare standards of various farmed animal products.
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The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes plant- and cell-based alternatives to animal products, particularly meat, dairy, and eggs. It was created in 2016 by the nonprofit organization Mercy For Animals with Bruce Friedrich as the chief executive officer. GFI has more than 150 staff across six affiliates in the United States, India, Israel, Brazil, Asia Pacific, and Europe. GFI was one of Animal Charity Evaluators' four "top charities" of 2022.
This article is about the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Australia. Australia has moderate animal protections by international standards.
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Animal welfare and rights in Denmark relates to the treatment of and laws concerning non-human animals in Denmark. Denmark has moderately strong protections for animals by international standards. In 2014 and again in 2020, Denmark received a B grade on the A–G scale of the World Animal Protection's Animal Protection Index.
Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), formerly known as Effective Animal Activism (EAA), is a US-based charity evaluator and effective altruism-focused nonprofit founded in 2012. ACE evaluates animal charities and compares the effectiveness of their different campaigns and strategies. The organization makes charity recommendations to donors once a year. Its stated purpose is finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals.
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