22 Species To Celebrate 22 Years
Faunalytics was founded in 2000 to empower animal advocates by providing access to research, strategies, and messages that maximize their effectiveness to reduce animal suffering. For over two decades we’ve done just that, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate how we’ve helped animals together than to share this special blog featuring 22 Species we’ve covered to Celebrate 22 Years! Click on the species names to check out the full resource!
Farmed Animals
1. COWS
Plant-based protein alternatives may represent a small fraction of the protein market, but that fraction is growing, and it’s making the U.S. “beef” industry nervous - nervous enough to produce an in-depth study on the impact of plant-based alternatives on beef demand. We created a Faunalytics Explains video to provide the four biggest takeaways.
2. PIGS
Did you know that pigs can learn to play video games, and enjoy playing with toys? We detail the problems facing farmed animals and how advocates can help in our Farmed Animal Fundamentals.
3. CHICKENS
About 20% of U.S. eggs produced in 2019 were sourced from cage-free operations. This summary explores pressure campaigns by legislators and animal protection groups for cage-free housing systems, and their success.
4. GOATS
This study covered from our research library looks at techniques for measuring animal welfare over time with goats, and finds that measuring chronic conditions rather than disease outbreaks may be useful. Detecting persistent welfare issues can help to identify areas that need the most improvement.
5. SHEEP
In Australia, 367 times more land is needed to produce a bale of wool compared to a bale of cotton. A recent report from the Center for Biological Diversity and Collective Fashion Justice compiles evidence on the environmental impacts of the commercial wool industry, from farm to landfill.
6. MINKS
17 million minks were slaughtered on farms in Denmark to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Under our current system, we fall into crisis by exploiting animals and fostering disease outbreaks, only to harm more animals as we try to protect ourselves and find solutions. This research summary reminds us that the suffering animals endure is too enormous to ignore.
7. FISHES
Our latest original research report covers attitudes towards chickens and fishes in Brazil, Canada, China, and India, and we discovered a range of interesting findings about how people make their decisions about whether or not to consume fishes. For example, in Canada the beliefs that had the largest correlations with signing a pledge to reduce fish consumption were that fish can feel positive emotions like pleasure, that fish are loving, that big fish farms are gross, and that fish are more intelligent than they are given credit for.
8. SHRIMP
In our Animal Product Impact Scales blog, we show how many lives and days of suffering go into U.S. consumption of animal products every day. For every one day of unbreaded shrimp consumption, 2.5 billion days of suffering occur.
Companion Animals
9. CATS
A new initiative brings the U.S. capital to the forefront of counting outdoor cats. Faunalytics' Board President Caryn Ginsberg looks at the purpose and potential of the project in this blog and infographic. Fun fact! Among our team at Faunalytics, we have 14 companion cats!
10. DOGS
This Faunalytics’ blog looks at support for spay/neuter in the U.S., and finds interesting and actionable results across a range of demographics. Another fun fact: The Faunalysts have four companion dogs, one of whom is a rescue from Thailand!
11. GUINEA PIGS
Did you know that some 400,000 guinea pigs live as companion animals in the United Kingdom? An online survey of guardians suggests that most guinea pigs in the U.K. are well cared for, and our article discusses guinea pig welfare and how we can improve it.
Wild Animals
12. RHINOS
The State of the Rhino 2021 report details how all five species of rhinos in Africa and Asia are endangered to some degree. While poaching and habitat loss are still threats, there are some bright spots we can celebrate.
13. PANGOLINS
In this analysis, we explore 15 years of legal wildlife import data for the U.S., what the numbers tell us about the nature of the industry, and what we can do to stop it. Ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scale seizures dropped in 2020 to their lowest levels since 2017, but it is noted that there has been “an increase in other indicators of wildlife crime, including poaching numbers and online sales of animals or their parts, underscoring the difficulty of drawing conclusions from seizure data alone.”
14. WHALES
Did you know that male humpback whales love to sing, and their songs change throughout the season? We detail the problems facing whales and other ocean life, as well as how advocates can help, in our Ocean Life Fundamentals.
15. BIRDS
This guest blog from Wild Animal Initiative's Cat Kerr looks at creative and humane solutions for population management that take the sentience of so-called "pest" species seriously. Wild Animal Initiative’s research team has designed a field experiment with the goal of decreasing pigeon populations with a humane contraceptive.
16. APES
We define “personhood” partly by cognitive ability, but there are other factors to consider. This study’s goal is to have us think of apes as “forest persons” rather than as animals, as how we name someone informs how we think about them.
17. TIGERS
This recent study shows that, by increasing the public’s exposure to exotic animal content, social media normalizes and drives demand for the wildlife trade. Tigers were the most common species of animal seen in this review of exotic animal videos on YouTube.
18. HONEY BEES
Since the 1990s, global biodiversity information facility records show fewer bee species being reported around the world. In the 2000s and 2010s, there was a fall of about 8% and 20% in the number of bee specimens collected worldwide, respectively. This study alerts us to the ongoing decline of bee diversity.
19. CROCODILES
This blog discusses an investigation of Australian crocodile farms owned by luxury brand Hermés and exposes the largely unknown crocodile skin industry. There are an estimated 185,000 crocodiles being held captive and bred for the fashion industry, while there are only 100,000 saltwater crocodiles left in their natural habitat.
Animals Used In Research
20. CRUSTACEANS
Crustaceans on our plates and in our research labs have few welfare protections because it is assumed they don’t feel pain — but there is increasing evidence that they are, in fact, sentient and can suffer. This library summary reviews the use of decapod crustaceans in research and discusses the latest evidence that may point to their sentience.
21. MICE
Faunalytics Research Scientist Dr. Andrea Polanco presents this blog, which highlights her PhD research at the University of Guelph. She explains how captive animal research can show that animals are capable of experiencing rich emotional lives, and how we can use this research to make a case that they deserve to live freely.
And Finally...
22. HUMANS
In this Faunalytics original study, we look at the complex experiences of animal advocates in the U.S. and Canada, with an eye on how the movement can improve retention. This study was the first that we know of to attempt a comprehensive examination of animal advocates’ experiences. It suggests several areas where we can improve as a movement and, in the process, reduce turnover. For an additional and important resource, our executive director, Brooke, discusses antiracism in animal advocacy in the Our Hen House audio series of Encompass’ groundbreaking book, Antiracism in Animal Advocacy: Igniting Cultural Transformation.
These 22 animals and the resources provided to support them is just a small sampling of all the work we have done in the past 22 years! Our extensive Research Library, the world’s largest online collection of behavioral research and data on animals and animal issues, houses more than 4,500 study summaries. Our original research delves into important animal advocacy issues in areas of high impact to maximize the effectiveness of the animal movement.
And of course, we accomplish our mission by helping fellow animal advocates apply research to their work. The most direct way we do this is by offering research support to other advocates and organizations. This includes virtual “office hours” where advocates can ask for help assessing their campaigns, finding and applying our data to their work, and understanding how data can support their unique needs.
If you want to help us advance the animal protection movement, we hope that you will make a birthday gift to Faunalytics. You can donate today to help us make an impact.
Thank you, and cheers to another 22 years of making the world a better place for all animals!
ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD
ANIMALS USED IN SCIENCE
COMPANION ANIMALS
EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY
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