Perspective

Perspective

How My Cultural Identity Informs My Animal Advocacy

Reflecting upon my history in animal advocacy, I realize that I have undervalued my family’s roots as a key factor in why and how I want to help animals to…

Encompass•8 min read

Perspective

The Coasts Are Disappearing. We Need to Protect Them for Everyone.

Climate change is causing sea levels to rise and coasts to disappear. Can we protect these vital ecosystems for humans and other animals at the same time?

Climate•5 min read

Perspective

To Avoid the Next Pandemic, We Need to Stop Factory Farming

Industrial animal agriculture is exacerbating the risks of zoonotic diseases. Are elected officials ready to dismantle the system that got us into this mess?

Health•4 min read

Perspective

Is Speciesism Driving the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Reluctance to question humans’ exploitation of animals creates a dangerous disconnect in the public's understanding of COVID-19 and its ongoing risks. Lorelei Plotczyk shares her perspective.

Health•16 min read

Perspective

I Was a Journalist Who Reported on Captive Animals—Then I Became One

Christina M. Russo reflects on her newfound connection with captive animals. After being damaged during surgery, she understands their plight even more.

Entertainment•7 min read

Perspective

Why Underground Dog Fighting Needs to End

Despite being classified as a felony in every U.S. state, dog fighting takes place in many parts of the country. Dogs are forced to fight each other almost daily, and…

Policy•7 min read

Perspective

Using Research and Data to Create an Inclusive Animal Rights Movement

Learning about racial inequity through the lens of data analysis not only improves the efficacy of my animal advocacy, but it fuels my commitment to fighting all forms of oppression.

Encompass•14 min read

Perspective

Burger King’s New Low-Methane Burgers Aren’t Going to Save Us

The meat industry is under intense scrutiny for its climate impact, with beef singled out as the biggest culprit. But if you want to save the planet, opt for the…

Climate•6 min read

Perspective

The Revolutionary Potential of Vegan Politics

Veganism is more than a diet—it's a political framework that challenges us to reexamine our relationship with gender, sexuality, and power in our everyday lives.

Policy•5 min read

Perspective

Dog for Dinner: Blasphemy or Hypocrisy?

How can individuals care about some animals and, at the same time, eat others? Human culture, rather than animals’ inherent moral worth, too often dictates which species are “okay” to…

Policy•8 min read

Perspective

Dairy-Free Starbucks: A Win for Animals and the Planet

Starbucks serves 80,000 different drink combinations—most of which include dairy. Switching to plant-based milk would dramatically reduce environmental damage and alleviate animal suffering.

Climate•7 min read

Perspective

Leather: Cruel, Not Cool

Leather production poses a triple threat—it inflicts unimaginable cruelty on animals, harms and kills tannery workers, and destroys vital ecosystems.

Food•6 min read

Perspective

Let’s Forge a New Normal for Farmed Animals

Millions of farmed animals were needlessly put to death during the pandemic. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Food•8 min read

Perspective

It’s Time for Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaigners to Take on the Meat Industry

For years, climate campaigners have targeted the financial sector for bankrolling the fossil fuel industry. Next up: the $1.4-trillion meat industry.

Climate•5 min read

Perspective

From Speaking Up for Animals to Becoming an Antiracist

It’s time we own how the vegan movement has supported the systematic racism that robs people in the global majority of their humanity.

Encompass•10 min read

Perspective

Protesters, Pigs & the Diversity Problem in Animal Welfare

Allyship between the animal rights community and the Black community is tenuous, but it doesn’t have to be. Activists can organize to support all who are oppressed, regardless of species.

Policy•6 min read

Perspective

More Chickens Finding Backyard Homes During Pandemic

Since the pandemic began, sales of chickens to homeowners have been dramatically increasing. But is raising backyard chickens really any more ethical than supporting factory farming?

Policy•7 min read

Perspective

Gassed, Shot, and Suffocated: How Meat Companies Are Killing Farmed Animals During COVID-19

When slaughterhouses shut down, producers had nowhere to send their animals. As a result, tens of millions of animals were killed and disposed of, posing a serious threat to humans…

Food•4 min read

Perspective

Tyson Foods Kills 2.4 Billion Animals Every Year. Can It Do Good, Too?

As a leading meat producer, Tyson has the potential to do much harm but also much good. It could annually end the exploitation of billions of animals by expanding its…

Food•6 min read

Perspective

The Danger of Letting the Animal Agriculture Industry Operate in Secrecy

Former undercover investigator Scott David examines the risks and implications of “ag-gag" laws that punish anyone who releases evidence of animal cruelty inside farms and slaughterhouses.

Law & Justice•6 min read

Perspective

Self-Discovery and the Pursuit of Racial Equity in Animal Advocacy: Introducing “The Encompass Essays”

The forthcoming collection of narratives examine how a cohort of advocates in the farmed animal movement intend to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Encompass•17 min read

Perspective

The Hidden Cost of Trump’s Move to Deregulate Fish Farms

Trump recently signed an order to deregulate and greenlight new industrial fish farms. But virtually no thought has been given to those most impacted by these operations: the fish themselves.

Aquaculture•4 min read

Perspective

The Power of the Pitch: Top Journalists and Editors Discuss How to Craft the Perfect Pitch

Watch the first installment of our new speaker series, Sentient Sessions, for tips and tricks on rising to the top of your editor's inbox.

Policy•7 min read

Perspective

Encompass Essays: Pursuing Racial Equity in Animal Advocacy

A collection of essays written by farmed animal protection advocates who are committed to creating a more just animal protection movement.

Encompass•3 min read

Perspective

The Animals We Often Overlook

In our news coverage, we often focus our attention on the welfare of companion animals and traditional farmed animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, but millions of other animals need…

Animal Testing•11 min read

Perspective

Understanding Euthanasia: When Life and Words Become Worthless

Animals subjected to "euthanasia" often die by carbon dioxide poisoning, ventilation shutdown, and other mass-killing techniques that prolong suffering for minutes, even hours.

Law & Justice•6 min read

Perspective

Pork Industry’s COVID-19 Response Demonstrates Innate Brutality of Factory Farming

The culling of pigs during COVID-19 hardly compares in scale to the misery of the 75 million pigs currently held on U.S. factory farms, or the anguish of the more…

Food•5 min read

Perspective

“Petting Farms” Become Popular Post-Lockdown, But They Aren’t as Cute as They Seem

Petting farms—like petting zoos for farmed animals—perpetuate unrealistic ideas of animal farming, broadening the disconnect between the baby animals we love and the butchered animals we eat.

Policy•4 min read

Perspective

COVID-19 Exposing Flawed Moral Framework Behind Animal Testing

We talk about the "new normal" to describe life after COVID-19, but perhaps biomedical research itself may also be ready for a new normal, one that excludes needless animal suffering.

Animal Testing•6 min read

Perspective

COVID-19 Demonstrating Risks of Ontario’s Proposed “Ag-Gag” Law

COVID-19 is making clear that Canada has a food safety problem—but "ag-gag" laws like the proposed Bill 156 make existing problems worse by further limiting much-needed transparency in the food…

Law & Justice•6 min read

Perspective

Advocating for Food Justice During a Pandemic: Lauren Ornelas Speaks Out

Lauren Ornelas is the founder of the Food Empowerment Project, a vegan food justice organization that shows people how various issues of oppression are connected to the food system.

Policy•5 min read

Perspective

The Sac Rack: Death’s Waiting Room for Animals in Labs

Former undercover investigator Lindsay Oliver shares her harrowing experience euthanizing animals at research labs. "The gas was turned on and then we sat, waiting for them to perish."

Animal Testing•3 min read

Perspective

The New York Times Swapped an Image of Animal Carcasses for an Abstract Illustration. But Why?

Mainstream media refuses to document the food system truthfully and accurately. It’s our responsibility to hold them accountable.

Policy•8 min read

Perspective

What Do Humans Owe to Wildlife in Urban Spaces?

Animals in urban areas are surprising us by venturing onto empty city streets. These animals, while largely invisible to human eyes, need our protection.

Policy•6 min read

Perspective

Animal Protection During COVID-19 and Beyond: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

In a new op-ed from Animal Equality UK, Michelle Baxter Wickham calls for more individual and corporate accountability to ensure farmed animals are better protected when we return to "normal."

Policy•5 min read

Perspective

Corruption and Exploitation: Brazil’s Position in the Global Food System

Brazil plays a major role in the global food supply. But with rampant corruption and disregard for human rights, animal, and environmental issues, Bolsonaro's Brazil has become a global threat.

Food•10 min read

Perspective

COVID-19 Revealing Inherent Cruelty of Agribusiness

During the coronavirus crisis, agribusiness’s callous treatment of its workers and blatant disregard for animal welfare has reached a new low.

Food•4 min read

Perspective

Pandemics, Liberation, and Animal Ag: An Interview With Peter Singer

Philosopher Peter Singer has been highly influential in shaping the ethical foundation for animal protection, in addition to his long career in ethics, especially utilitarianism.

Policy•18 min read

Perspective

Marketing Masculinity: The Meat of the Matter

The connection between meat consumption and masculinity is not new. What is new is the increasing influence of prominent vegan men who speak up about the benefits of their diets.

Food•7 min read

Perspective

COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Sickness Spreading Through Meat Plants

From coronavirus and E. coli, to crime, cruelty, and ecocide, the meat industry incubates a plethora of ills. Why, then, does government underwrite it with billions in subsidies?

Policy•21 min read

Perspective

Suffocating Healthy Farmed Animals During Pandemic Is Not “Euthanasia”

Using the term “euthanasia,” which literally means "a good death," to describe the mass killing of overpopulated farmed animals is a misnomer. They suffer horrific deaths.

Food•4 min read

Perspective

VIDEO: How to Prevent the Next Pandemic

Plant-based campaigners Million Dollar Vegan explain the fundamental changes necessary to avoid the next pandemic. Experts warn that if we don’t act now, we may not have another chance to.

Health•1 min read

Perspective

Factory Farming Depends on Scarce Medical Supplies

With the availability of medical masks in such short supply, respirators should be sold only to truly “essential” industries—which excludes factory farming.

Health•7 min read

Perspective

Elephant Poaching Is a Humanitarian Crisis, Too

Most conservation efforts fail to address poverty as a primary cause of the poaching crisis. Poachers can make more money from one kill than most sub-Saharan Africans earn in an…

Policy•9 min read

Perspective

Birth and Motherhood in a Slaughterhouse: Charlotte’s Story

Pregnant animals sent to slaughter, and their young, usually die anonymously. Only a miraculous few are rescued and brought to sanctuaries where humans can learn their stories.

Policy•5 min read

Perspective

Explaining Pandemics and Animal Exploitation to My 3-Year-Old Son

The COVID-19 pandemic raises a lot of questions, especially by children whose worlds were turned upside-down. How should parents address those difficult questions?

Policy•6 min read

Perspective

Has Earth’s Most Trafficked Mammal Stopped the World?

Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal on earth, sold for their meat and scales in wildlife markets around the world. The quirky, anteater-like animal is now at the center of…

Health•10 min read

Perspective

Zoo Animals Are Always on Lockdown

Stories about lonely zoo animals missing their human “friends” may bring levity during this time of crisis—but they ignore the plight of the animals held permanently captive.

Entertainment•5 min read

Perspective

Cook Vegan at Home to Protest What Got Us Here

Cooking vegan during the coronavirus pandemic is a way to protest the profit- and animal exploitation-driven systems that got us here.

Policy•7 min read

Perspective

Profit Over People: The Meat Industry’s Exploitation of Vulnerable Workers

Slaughterhouses have always been viewed negatively because of what happens to animals behind their walls. But how workers are treated is also despicable.

Policy•7 min read