2024 ANNUAL
IMPACT REPORT
12 months, 42 million animals.
This was your impact this year.
Photo: Sammantha Fisher
Dear animal advocate,
Looking back at 2024, I am truly inspired by how individual acts of compassion have sparked transformative change for animals. Your unwavering determination has brought light to places long shrouded in darkness.
Reflecting on what we’ve achieved together – from advancing plant-based eating, to securing the inclusion of animals in the Mexican Constitution – I see a community united by courage and commitment. You refuse to look away, and because of you, animals have hope.
As 2025 begins, the possibilities for progress feel limitless. Thank you for being the force that turns empathy into meaningful action. The animals need you, and you continue to answer that call.
With deep admiration,
Sharon Núñez
President, Animal Equality
YOUR IMPACT BY THE NUMBERS*
42+ MILLION
ESTIMATED ANIMALS
IMPACTED
15
INVESTIGATIONS LAUNCHED
9+ MILLION
VIEWS OF OUR VIDEOS
119,000+
VOLUNTEERS AROUND THE WORLD
920,000+
PEOPLE SIGNED OUR CAMPAIGNS
1.1+ MILLION
VISITS TO THE LOVE VEG WEBSITE
345,000+
LOVE VEG SUBSCRIBERS
476,000+
LOVE VEG RECIPE BOOK DOWNLOADS
*Global data from January to December 2024.
ABOUT ANIMAL EQUALITY
We are a team of committed activists dedicated to creating a world where all animals are respected and protected.
Our mission
Animal Equality is an international organisation working with society, governments, and companies to end cruelty to farmed animals.
Our work
Animal Equality uses four strategies: exposing cruelty via investigative exposés, advocating for stronger laws, pushing companies to adopt animal protection policies, and encouraging people to reduce or eliminate animal product consumption.
18+ years helping animals globally
Founded in 2006, Animal Equality now has offices in eight countries: the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, and the United Kingdom.
HIGHLIGHTS
You included animals in the Mexican Constitution!
Thanks to your support, Mexico’s Congress approved three landmark reforms championed by Animal Equality, making animal protection part of the Constitution for the first time. These reforms:
- Incorporate animal protection into formal education.
- Require the State to guarantee animal protection.
- Empower the Government to establish a national Animal Protection Law.
This is a never-before-seen paradigm shift – Mexico is now one of ten countries to include animals in its Constitution. This change better protects farmed animals in law.
“New generations will grow up in a country that recognises that animals matter. It’s a paradigm shift.”
– Dulce Ramírez, Vice-President for Latin America
Relaunch and growth of Love Veg
Thanks to the support of people like you, we relaunched Love Veg – Animal Equality’s plant-based programme – with a billboard in New York’s Times Square. Love Veg subscribers, cookbook downloads, and website visits in the U.S. all doubled. In the UK, the Love Veg website received 10,722 visits.
Love Veg, Animal Equality’s
plant‑based program
Through Love Veg’s global programmes, we launched ten plant-based cookbooks. They include “More Legumes to Save Chickens” (Mexico) and “My First Vegan Cheeses” (Spain).
Our work empowered 650+ future nutritionists, soup kitchen cooks, and university chefs to prioritise plants in their recipes, through 26 plant-based workshops in Mexico. In India, thanks to the support we received from you and others, we inspired over 5,000 students through school presentations about animal protection and compassionate choices.
“We used to underestimate the variety of nutrients obtained from plant sources. Now, we understand that a well-planned vegan diet can provide all the nutrients necessary for good health.”
—Dietetics student and Love Veg workshop attendee
At the same time, we engaged seven new celebrities as part of the 21-Day Plant-Powered Challenge in India, reaching 700,000+ views. Through 20+ global events and street actions, we inspired countless others to choose compassionate eating.
Together, with your help, our advocacy helped pass Mexico’s Law for adequate and Sustainable Nutrition, prioritising plant-based food nationwide. According to The Lance “it enshrines the human right to food, elevating it to include healthy and sustainable nutrition and positioning Mexico as a global leader in food policy, with the most progressive approach in this area to date.”
“I always thought of it only as ‘meat’ and not as an animal that died for the food on my plate. Since I realised that, I’ve never wanted it again. I feel much better without meat.”
—Valen, Animal Equality supporter
“Every time we choose a recipe without animal ingredients, we build a fairer world for all living beings.”
—Katya, Education Coordinator at Animal Equality in Mexico
END FACTORY FARMING
Factory farming cages hens, mutilates piglets, and separates calves from mothers. These animals endure terrifying deaths in slaughterhouses. Together, we will end it.
The Mexican states of Colima and Oaxaca passed animal protection bills to protect animals on farms, each impacting nine million animals annually. Meanwhile, the European Commission announced the appointment of its first-ever Commissioner for Animal Health and Welfare. This was a significant milestone for the #EUforAnimals campaign, supported by Animal Equality.
After 50 years of campaigning by animal protection groups, led by KAALE and Compassion in World Farming, the UK banned live animal exports for fattening and slaughter. In the U.S., our supporters opposed the House version of the Farm Bill, which threatens key animal protection laws like California’s Prop 12.
“It took decades to pass laws that provide even the most basic protections to some farmed animals. Now, Congress is trying to erase that progress to prioritise meat and dairy profits. We will not let it happen.”
—Sharon Núñez, Animal Equality President & Co-founder
Your support allowed our team to attend Nepal’s Gadhimai Festival, exposing the world’s largest animal sacrifice. Thanks to people like you, the number of large animals killed decreased by half between 2019 and 2024.
Your persistence holds animal abusers accountable: after our 2018 Spanish pig farm investigation, Animal Equality filed charges for animal cruelty. Though the farm owners were acquitted earlier this year, we successfully appealed the decision. A new trial will be held soon.
Animal Equality’s supporters helped us to conduct a 120-day investigation of one of Germany’s largest pig farms. This investigation aired on the country’s leading news channel and resulted in criminal charges. Together, we also revealed cruelty in pig farms and slaughterhouses across Italy, the UK, and Spain, with filed formal complaints in each.
In India, our newly-released pig industry footage is helping to push for new animal protections, including Animal Equality’s recommendation for mandatory stunning before slaughter.
In Brazil, our team opposed the Self-Control Law, which removes mandatory government inspections at slaughterhouses. Animal Equality joined a lawsuit to declare the law unconstitutional and launched a new investigation showing the results of deregulation.
In the UK, Animal Equality whistleblowers exposed workers removing buckets full of dead fish from a salmon farm hours before a visit from Members of the Scottish Parliament. We also released footage of salmon suffocating on accredited farms supplying British supermarkets. This led to the accreditation suspension of three farms.
We even secured permission from the High Court to challenge the construction of the UK’s first fully on-land salmon mega-farm – just 5% of cases make it this far! If successful, this will protect one million fish annually and send a loud message to the animal agriculture industry that we will not tolerate new factory farms to be constructed in the UK.
Meanwhile, thanks to our proud supporters, we have exposed Mexico’s rabbit meat industry and pushed for animal evacuation protocols during natural disasters in Spain. The latter was a response to widespread deaths on Spanish farms during the DANA storm. Your support also revealed how India’s dairy industry is linked to meat production.
Animal Equality also revealed how slaughterhouses use a guide sheep to lead lambs to slaughter. With investigative footage, we urged Spain’s government to end live animal export to non-EU countries.
“Thanks to you opening my eyes, I have not eaten meat for a couple years. I will always spread your investigations to everyone I know.”
—Mariagrazia, Animal Equality supporter
Every action you take counts! Following years of campaigning by animal protection groups – including Animal Equality – Lidl supermarket announced it would phase out faster-growing chicken farming in its German supply chain. These chickens suffer tremendously, growing far too big, far too quickly, and suffering from leg deformities, lung problems, and heart attacks as a result.
Your support enabled us to publish the ‘Uncounted’ report, revealing that 500 million chickens die before slaughter each year in the U.S. This is more than the combined number of turkeys, pigs, and cows slaughtered for meat annually.
Your continued loyalty allows us to release investigative footage, enter courtrooms, and fuel our campaigns in defence of animals!
END CAGES FOR HENS AND PIGS
Farmers confine millions of mother pigs and hens in tiny cages where they can’t move freely. Despite bans in some US states and countries, many animals still suffer this cruelty.
After Denny’s broke its promise to end cages for mother pigs in its U.S. supply chain, our supporters campaigned tirelessly for 600 days. This included 76,000 online actions and 20 nationwide protests. You and other proud Animal Equality supporters are also exposing Aldi supermarket’s hypocrisy: while it has ended confinement for pigs and hens in its German supply chain, it has failed to do so in the U.S. Through powerful protests in both countries, we are demanding an end to this double standard.
“It is unacceptable that the company [Aldi] presents itself as particularly animal-friendly to its customers in Germany. Meanwhile, it shows no compassion elsewhere because it sees no economic necessity.”
—Vanessa Raith, Director of Animal Equality in Germany
In countries like Brazil, Spain, the U.S., India, and Italy, Animal Equality secured or reinstated 32 corporate commitments to eliminate cages for hens and pregnant pigs. These commitments will impact 3.5 million animals each year.
STOP MALE CHICK CULLING
Male chicks in the egg industry are killed because they cannot lay eggs and cannot be raised for their flesh. In-ovo sexing technology offers an alternative by identifying the sex of embryos before hatching, allowing male eggs to be removed.
- In Brazil, our team introduced a bill to ban this cruel practice, potentially saving 84 million chicks annually. We convinced AB Mauri, a major baked goods producer, to phase out male chick killing in its supply chain.
- In Spain, we advocated for the 35 million chicks killed each year, urging the Ministry of Agriculture to ban the practice by 2026 and adopt in-ovo sexing.
- In Italy, we continue to push for full implementation of the 2022 law our supporters helped pass, which will end male chick killing by 2026.
END FORCE-FEEDING FOR FOIE GRAS
The foie gras industry force-feeds ducks and geese until their livers swell up to ten times their normal size. Their diseased livers are served as foie gras.
Animal Equality’s global campaign to remove foie gras from the 2024 Paris Olympics made waves internationally! We brought an message directly to the organisers in Paris – delivering 60,000 petition signatures and demanding that this cruel product be removed from the VIP menu. While foie gras remained on the Olympic menu, our efforts secured extensive global media coverage that put force-feeding in the spotlight, including coverage in Forbes, Le Monde, the Independent and Vanity Fair. An Animal Equality even prompted the UK Labour Party – now in power – to publicly pledge a ban on foie gras imports. Several Members of Parliament attended our recent Parliamentary event and signed our pledge to end imports of this cruel item.
“I became vegan six months ago thanks to a campaign by Animal Equality. Your work makes a difference in the world.”
—Rodrigo, Animal Equality supporter
END HORSE SLAUGHTER
Horses are often seen as companions, similar to dogs or cats. But thousands of U.S. horses are transported to Canada and Mexico to be killed for meat.
Animal Equality conducted our first investigation of Spanish horse slaughter in over a decade, exposing the European country that produces the most horse meat. We used this evidence to push Spanish and European Union authorities to also end this practice. In the U.S., your persistent advocacy for the SAFE Act—which would ban the export of American horses for slaughter—is gaining traction. Thousands of advocates like you have contacted legislators, pushing for its inclusion in next year’s Farm Bill.
“The U.S. is sending horses outside our borders, so their slaughter is out of sight. The majority of Americans oppose this. Now it’s time for the U.S. Government to ban it once and for all.”
—Sharon Núñez, Animal Equality President & Co-founder
BRINGING WORLDWIDE MEDIA ATTENTION TO ANIMALS
1,600+
MEDIA MENTIONS
50.5+ MILLION
ESTIMATED MEDIA VIEWS
Animal Equality’s work has been highlighted by the following news organisations:
YOU CAN HELP ANIMALS
Your support is crucial in our ongoing fight against animal cruelty, whether it’s advocating for legislative change, exposing animal suffering, or inspiring people to choose compassionate lifestyles. Together, we are shaping a future where animals are respected and protected.
Join us. Donate now. Let’s make history for animals.
I support Animal Equality because you are on the front lines, recording unimaginable cruelty and bringing these cases to the public. The undercover investigators and everyone at Animal Equality are true heroes.
Patricia Packer
Animal Equality’s supporter
