Faunalytics’ 2024 Mid-Year Report
We’re excited to share that Faunalytics has had a strong start to our year, thanks to the efforts of our staff, volunteers, collaborators, and the supporters who make our work possible. We’re on a mission to provide advocates with the best research available to help them be as effective as possible for animals, and we’re not slowing down.
The first major update is that we redesigned our website! In the process of launching a new and improved faunalytics.org, we focused on creating a better user experience and bringing more of our work “to the surface.” We improved our menu structure and search experience, and now more animal advocacy resources are closer to your fingertips than ever before.
Additionally, we’ve published three new original studies so far this year, on topics including how research is used in advocacy, collaborative opportunities with the environmental movement, and the strategies and needs of international organizations. We completed a major update to our Global Slaughter Statistics and Charts, and added 150+ study summaries, factsheets, and data visualizations to our Research Library. We’ve leaned into our core value of collaboration, working with several experts in the movement on guest blogs highlighting significant and/or overlooked topics in animal advocacy. And importantly, we’ve provided direct support and guidance to over 100 organizations and independent advocates seeking data to inform and advance their work for animals.
Read on to learn more about what we’ve been up to, and a peek of what’s in store for the remainder of the year.
January
Faunalytics Study Replication Guide
Faunalytics has conducted around 50 original studies over the last decade, and with each research question answered another emerges. While some of our studies have had a multinational focus, not all have. We produced a new guide for replicating our research in different contexts to empower advocates to reproduce our most popular studies around the world.
- Unpacking Chile’s Animal Industrial Complex (Part 1, Part 2): In this resource series, we unveiled the operations of the largest animal exploitation industries in Chile over the past 20 years, starting with the fishing industry and then, in part two, with the livestock industry.
- AI & Animal Advocacy: We lent our expertise to a webinar with Stray Dog Institute and Farm Forward where we explored risks, rewards, and responsibilities related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in animal advocacy.
- Learning from Experts: In a guest blog for Faunalytics, members of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law explored the impacts of animal agriculture on climate change and recommended law reforms to encourage the transition to a plant-based food system in Canada.
February
Research and Data As Tools In Advocate Decision Making
In our first study of the year, Research and Data As Tools In Advocate Decision Making, we surveyed 20 staff members of animal advocacy organizations around the world to better understand how they access, interpret, and use research, data, and other forms of evidence in their work. We uncovered five key ways advocates use research, providing vital guidance to our work and that of other researchers. After reading the report be sure to check out the webinar we hosted with guests from other research organizations in the movement as they discuss their biggest takeaways and surprises from this report.
- Learning from Experts: In a guest blog for Faunalytics, the team at Legal Impact for Chickens explained how advocacy groups defended Proposition 12 at the Supreme Court, and the current threat to state welfare laws as a result of that court decision. Meanwhile, Kangaroos Alive discussed their recent survey of Australians’ beliefs about kangaroos and the animal welfare, human rights, and environmental concerns related to their slaughter.
March
Collaborative Opportunities Between The Animal Protection And Environmental Movements
Given the overlap that exists between animal advocacy and climate and environmental issues, our study Collaborative Opportunities Between The Animal Protection And Environmental Movements evaluated the potential for partnership between organizations working in animal protection and those in the environmental movement. We identified areas of overlap and gathered environmentalists’ perspectives about partnering with animal advocates. Don’t miss the fireside chat we hosted discussing our findings!
- Spreading Awareness: We appeared on the Asia for Animals podcast alongside our friends at The Good Growth Co. to share advice on best practices for leveraging data, developing a “research mindset,” and how organizations can use research in animal advocacy.
- Learning from Experts: We teamed up with Rethink Priorities to create a detailed overview of People’s Attitudes Towards Wild Animal Welfare. Complete with insightful data from their research and visualizations from our team, this blog is a great overview of how people perceive this neglected area of animal welfare.
April
Tactics In Practice (TIPs!)
In this brand new resources series, we provide overviews that delve into all the best research behind one popular advocacy intervention at a time. Our first edition is on Social Media Advocacy and our second edition (publishing next week) is on Plant-Based Defaults and Nudges. Stay tuned for more of these tactical deep dives coming soon.
- New Factsheet: Labels are a key way consumers evaluate the “humaneness” of animal products. This factsheet, Deciphering and Improving Animal Product Welfare Labels, gave insight into what these labels actually mean, and how they can be improved. Be sure to stay tuned for results from our upcoming experiment on the impact of humanewashing on consumer behavior.
- Learning from Experts: As intensive industrial farming grows across Africa, second-hand battery cages pose a threat to progress for animals across the continent. In this guest blog, Dr. Jacob Achumboro Ayang from the Animal Welfare League walked our readers through egg production and cage-free advocacy in Africa.
- Newest Faunalyst: In April, we welcomed our new Projects Manager, Dr. Carley MacKay, to our team! Carley has a background in project management, completed PhD research focusing on cows’ lives, relations, and emotional and physical welfare, and has authored a variety of peer-reviewed publications on topics including animal ethnography, animal auction violence, and alternative food systems. Get to know our team here!
May
Pathways To Impact: An International Study of Advocates’ Strategies and Needs
In our latest project, Pathways To Impact: An International Study of Advocates’ Strategies and Needs, we surveyed nearly 200 groups across 84 countries to scope the diverse tactics and approaches taken by farmed animal advocates. We focused on how and why organizations pursue different strategies, and provided recommendations for funders and advocates on how to move forward more effectively.
- Global Slaughter Statistics and Charts: We released the latest edition of our global slaughter figures — one of our most widely used resources. In this update, we expanded on previous editions, and aggregated and visualized trends in animal slaughter around the world using data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
- Building Connections & Community: Several Faunalysts attended the Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit, where we maximized our time to help advocates use research and data in their advocacy. From speaking on panels to moderating sessions to hosting meetups, it was a privilege to strengthen our relationships with our fellow animal advocates.
- Learning from Experts: Industrial food animal production is a huge and sprawling system that relies on the factory farm and beyond. The mass conversion of animals into food and profit involves a complex web of inputs, processes, outputs, and actors. In this guest blog, researcher Dr. Rachel Mason discussed how advocates can tackle this system with systems-level thinking, giving us hope for a better future.
June
An Ever-Growing Research Library
Thanks to the support of our amazing volunteers, 149 new study summaries have been added to our Library this year! We’ve also grown our collection of translated research available to advocates.
- Office Hours: We’ve provided one-on-one guidance to 103 advocates and organizations this year via our pro bono Office Hours, which are available in multiple time zones to support advocates around the globe.
- Ambassador Outreach Project: Our Ambassadors have provided customized research presentations to a dozen organizations this year, bringing the project’s total to over 100 organizations reached!
- Learning from Experts: In this unique guest blog, an ordained interspecies and interfaith animal chaplain offered data, insights, and personal experiences navigating animals in grief, serving as both a case study and a call for more research in this understudied area.
Coming Soon
- Fauna Connections: Save the date! Our 3rd annual, virtual research symposium is back. On September 19th join hundreds of other advocates as researchers present their latest findings to support animal protection efforts. We’re thrilled to announce that this year’s keynote speaker will be Ignacia Uribe R., founder and CEO of Fundación Veg and author of the new book Cómo ser vegan hoy.
- Studies Coming Soon: Starting next month we’ll publish exciting new research, including our highly anticipated project benchmarking compensation in the farmed animal protection movement, research on how advocates can leverage conservative values to make progress for animals, and the impact of humanewashing on consumer behavior. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so that you don’t miss a thing!
Our Impact
Each year hundreds of thousands of people use Faunalytics’ work to inform their animal advocacy. We recently conducted our annual Community Survey to assess our impact, how our work is being used by our audience, and how we can improve to better support the movement. Nearly 500 advocates completed the survey, and we’re thrilled to share the following highlights:
- 83% thought our work is either extremely or very valuable to improving animal advocacy.
- 79% agreed that Faunalytics’ work has helped guide their advocacy decisions.
- 77% said that our work has improved their (or their organization’s) advocacy efforts.
- 97% agreed that our work is high-quality.
- 96% said that they would probably or definitely recommend Faunalytics to others.



Support Animal Advocacy Research
Faunalytics’ research and resources are made possible and freely available to animal advocates thanks to our generous donors. Help Faunalytics continue to empower our movement with the information they need to be as effective as possible.
We’ve had an exciting first half of the year, and we need your support to keep the momentum going. Help Faunalytics continue to empower our movement with research and resources to inform animal advocacy. Get involved today!
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