Faunalytics’ 2026 Mid-Year Review: What We’ve Built For The Movement & What We Have In Store
We’re excited to share this mid-year update with a genuine sense of gratitude, and momentum. The first half of 2026 has been one of the most productive stretches in Faunalytics’ history, not just in volume of output but in depth and reach. As ever, we’ve been producing rigorous, accessible research that helps advocates make better decisions for animals. And increasingly, we’re seeing that work land in organizational strategies, advocacy campaigns, policy conversations, and classrooms. Here’s a look at what we’ve accomplished together so far this year.
Original Research
Our Original Research program has been especially prolific this year, with a deliberate focus on the global dimensions of animal advocacy, including regions and contexts that have long been underserved by the field.
- The Aspirational Plate: Mapping The Gap Between Vegan & Vegetarian Identity And Global Behavior: Through a systematic review of 837 nationally representative sources across 58 countries and 10 years, this study reveals a consistent gap between how people identify and how they actually eat. For advocates working on diet change, the findings offer insight into where messaging is falling short and where it can be more realistic, targeted, and effective.
- Animal Product Impact Scales: Our flagship tool for quantifying animal suffering across food products received important updates this year, including an expansion to the U.K. market. This information-dense resource has proven to be one of our highest-impact outputs (you’ll read more about exactly how it’s being used below!).
- Food Systems Advocacy In The Global South: A Framework And Pilot In India: This pilot proposes a practical, adaptable framework for designing, tailoring, and evaluating advocacy campaigns within India’s specific political, cultural, and economic context. Advocates and funders working in these geographies now have a structured tool for strategy development.
- The Multi-Generational Kitchen: How To Market Plant-Based Eating To Indian Gen Z Households: Drawing on a survey of hundreds of Indian Gen Z adults living at home with their parents, this study identifies the household food dynamics, motivations, and barriers that shape plant-based eating decisions. The findings offer practical guidance for both animal advocates and alternative protein companies on how to tailor messaging and products for this growing and influential demographic.
Data Analysis Projects
Our analysis projects this year have ranged from essential resources updated to reflect the latest available data to strategic tools designed for direct advocacy application.
- Global Animal Slaughter Statistics & Charts: Updated with the most recent data from UN FAO, this resource tracks global trends in animal slaughter since 1960. It remains one of the most-used tools in the movement for grounding advocacy claims in rigorous, citable data.
- Are Welfare Laws Reshaping U.S. Animal Product Production And Trade?: By examining USDA data in light of California’s Proposition 12 and similar state-level regulations, this study helps policy advocates understand whether welfare laws are having measurable market effects and what the implications might be for future campaigns.
- How Many Animals Are Used In Research? A Deep Look At The United States & Canada: Drawing on government and nonprofit sources, this comprehensive resource tracks decades of data on animals used in research, giving advocates working in this area a reliable evidence base for campaigns, policy work, and communications.
- Mission Overlap Between Animal, Environmental, And Humanitarian Groups: Unlocking Common Ground Coalitions: By mapping shared priorities across movement sectors, this analysis helps animal advocates identify strategic coalition-building opportunities and make the case for cross-movement collaboration to funders and partners.
Research Synthesis: Tactics In Practice
Our growing Tactics In Practice series provides in-depth syntheses on specific advocacy approaches, helping organizations move from instinct to evidence when deciding where to invest their efforts. So far this year, we’ve added our 7th and 8th editions to the TIPs series.
- Tactics In Practice: The Data Behind Humane Education: This synthesis examines the evidence on how different humane education approaches affect students’ empathy, attitudes toward animals, and likelihood to advocate. It’s designed to help educators and funders identify what’s working and where the gaps in the research remain.
Following its publication, the Institute for Humane Education organized a dedicated discussion series — Humane Education Check-In: What’s Working? — bringing together educators from around the world to explore the findings together. Seeing our research become a catalyst for movement-wide conversation is exactly what we aim for.
- Tactics In Practice: The Data Behind Corporate Outreach: This edition takes a deep dive into the evidence on corporate outreach campaigns that push companies to adopt higher-welfare practices, examining what drives companies to act, how pledges are secured, and what factors influence successful follow-through. For advocates engaged in corporate campaigns, this is a roadmap grounded in data.
Voices From The Movement: Our Library & Guest Blogs
Every year we add over 200 new study summaries to our vast Research Library on topics covering nearly every species, intervention, and country. Additionally, one of our priorities has been amplifying movement expertise alongside our own. Our collaborative blog series features pieces co-authored with partner organizations, covering some of the most important strategic questions in animal protection.
- With Aquatic Animal Alliance: Coalitions As Engines Of Change — a practical case study on how coalition-building accelerates impact for aquatic animals.
- With Rethink Priorities: A two-part explainer on the Moral Weight Project, examining how welfare capacity can be compared across species — with implications for how advocates prioritize their work.
- With Te Protejo: Cruelty-Free As An On-Ramp Into The Animal Movement — exploring the historical and contemporary links between anti-vivisection ethics and broader animal advocacy.
- With Eurogroup for Animals: Investing In Power: Animal Protection Should Prioritize Political Advocacy — a strategic case for why long-term structural change requires binding legal reform, not just public sympathy.
The Role Of AI: Thoughtful And Practical
We’ve continued to engage seriously with the role of AI in animal advocacy with the kind of critical, honest attention we apply to everything we publish. Our thought leadership pieces on AI and research and AI and advocacy practice have contributed to a more grounded, nuanced conversation in the field about where AI adds genuine value and where caution is warranted.
And just last week, we launched something that we’re both genuinely excited about and which sticks very closely to our principles and approach: The Faunalytics Lens. This AI-powered research and synthesis tool allows advocates to ask questions in plain language and surface relevant findings from more than 6,000 human-vetted entries in our Research Library, with direct citations to the underlying sources. Built on decades of careful curation, the Lens is designed to help advocates find evidence quickly and apply it with confidence.
In The Community
It has also been a busy year thus far for our Research Support program. In addition to our Research Advice Hub, pro bono Office Hours, and research webinar series, we teamed up with the FAST Academy to offer an introductory course on Using Research in Animal Advocacy — recently updated with new insights and modules to reflect the latest in the field.
Our team also led several presentations and workshops at the Animal & Vegan Advocacy Summit in Toronto, including From Evidence to Impact: Building Literacy and Translating Research Into Action, Diagnosing Your Strategic Research & Data Challenges, and Cold Data vs. Hot Takes: Cultivating Data Literacy for Better Strategy. Advocates walked away with frameworks and tools for applying research more effectively in their day-to-day work.
Tracing Our Impact
Community Survey
Our annual Community Survey captures how advocates are finding and using Faunalytics’ resources. We’re excited to share the following highlights:
- 97% of the sample agreed that our work is high quality.
- 83% thought our work is either extremely or very valuable to animal advocacy.
- 74% said that Faunalytics’ work has improved their advocacy efforts.
- 80% agreed that Faunalytics’ work has helped guide their advocacy decisions.
- 60% agreed that Faunalytics’ work has helped them or their organization reduce suffering and save animal lives.
Case Studies
This year, we’re especially proud of our new investment in demonstrating how our research gets used. We’ve begun developing case studies that explore the path from research publication to change for animals.
Tracking Our Direct Impact: A Case Study Using Process Tracing documents how our Animal Product Impact Scales directly shaped Anima International France’s organizational strategy. Using a rigorous method called process tracing — big thanks to The Mission Motor for teaching us all about this — we followed the evidence from our published data through to a specific organizational decision, verifying each link in the chain. It’s the most methodologically rigorous impact case study we’ve produced, and a model for how we want to hold ourselves accountable going forward.
The story begins with a testimonial from advocate Keyvan Mostafavi at Anima International France, who shared:
“The data provided by Faunalytics on the days of suffering involved in producing various types of animal products were crucial in helping Anima International France estimate the cost-effectiveness of its institutional meat reduction work.” — Keyvan Mostafavi, Anima International France
From that testimonial, we developed and tested a formal hypothesis: that our Animal Product Impact Scales made Anima International France’s menu analysis work logistically feasible. The evidence confirmed it, and in doing so, demonstrated a direct, traceable link between our research and a real strategic shift for animals. This is the kind of accountability we plan to build more of, and it’s only possible because of the incredible advocates who take the time to tell us how they’re using our work — so be sure to tell us about you’re using our resources!
Keeping The Momentum Going
Welcoming New Faces
We’re delighted to welcome three new members to the Faunalytics team this year:
- Priscilla Boadi joins the team as our Community & Research Coordinator, helping advocates access and apply research to their work.
- Zoe Lu has joined our Board of Directors, bringing AI knowledge and strategic oversight to our organization.
- Ollie Davidson has joined our Advisory Council, sharing years of experience to help us take our work to the next level.
Their expertise and commitment to the mission strengthen everything we do.
Upcoming Studies
- Testing The Impact Of Different Approaches To Advocacy: What is the short- and long-term impact of a variety of advocacy tactics on a variety of outcomes, such as consumer choices, advocacy engagement, and moral concern for animals?
- How To Talk About Factory Farming: Does the general public understand the term “factory farming” the same way animal advocates do, and is it more effective than alternatives?
- U.S. Lawmakers & Districts Associated With Pro-Animal Behavior: Which lawmakers and what districts are most likely to yield greater success for legislative campaigns?
- Brazilian Voters’ Response To Pro-Animal Candidates: How can political candidates in Brazil effectively discuss animal welfare and farming subsidies to gain voter support?
- Chinese Consumer Perspectives on Aquatic Animals (in collaboration with Good Growth): What are Chinese consumers’ attitudes toward aquatic animal welfare, and are they willing to pay for higher-welfare products?
- Investigations Index: How can we best track investigations in our movement, and what role do investigations play in creating positive outcomes for animals?
These projects have been carefully selected via a multi-stage prioritization process, which ensures that the topics we tackle have the greatest possible impact for animals. Read more about all of our upcoming research.
Annual Research Symposium
Save the date for Fauna Connections! Join us on September 10th to hear from keynote speaker Taylison Santos (VP at Brazil’s Fórum Nacional de Proteção e Defesa Animal) and to get a lay-friendly overview of the latest, most relevant research coming out of animal advocacy research groups, academia, and beyond. We hope you’ll be part of this free day of learning!
Support Effective Animal Advocacy
We’re so excited to get to work in the back half of 2026, helping advocates use evidence to make informed, strategic decisions for animals. Everything we do — every study, every analysis, every conversation, every office hours session — is made possible by donors who believe that evidence belongs at the heart of the animal protection movement. If this work is useful to you, to the organizations you support, or to the advocates you know, we’d be grateful for your support.
With gratitude,
The Faunalytics Team
