If you’re reading this, you’re likely passionate about ending the abuse of animals. But with an issue so vast and so complicated—with billions of animals suffering on factory farms each year—it’s hard to know where to start. Where’s the best place to volunteer your time or make a donation? What animals need the most help? Where will your advocacy go the farthest for the animals?
Since 2012, Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) has been focused on answering those questions. ACE connects compassionate people like you with animal advocacy groups who are making a tangible impact on animals’ lives. The organization’s mission is to “find and promote the most effective ways to help animals” by looking at empirical evidence and logical reasoning. Thanks to ACE, you can be confident that your efforts with The Humane League are having a meaningful impact on the lives of animals—whether you donate, volunteer, or take action.
We’re honored to announce that Animal Charity Evaluators has recognized The Humane League as a Recommended Charity for 2023. As the only organization in ACE’s history to have earned this distinction every year it’s been awarded, we’re deeply grateful to our community of changemakers, who fuel this work—and our movement—to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
What is Animal Charity Evaluators?
ACE is a charity evaluator offering guidance on how to have the greatest impact on the lives of animals. Their team conducts extensive research to discover and evaluate the most impactful animal charities in the world, influencing donors and advocates around the globe. To date, ACE has reviewed over 350 groups and influenced donors to give over $26 million in gifts to the charities ACE recommends most highly.
Each year, ACE identifies several charities to recognize—and celebrate—the effectiveness of their strategies and solutions. ACE evaluates these advocacy groups through multiple rounds of review and ultimately chooses their Recommended Charities based on the efficiency of their programs, the cost-effectiveness of their victories, their track record of achievement, their healthy work culture, their long-term strategy, and their adaptability to keep doing what’s working and stop doing what’s not. In short, ACE recognizes the groups that make the greatest amount of change for the most animals in the most efficient way possible.
Why The Humane League is a recommended animal welfare charity
At The Humane League, we’re committed to having the most significant impact we can on the lives of animals. To that end, we've dialed in on the most effective strategies and tactics to measurably reduce and end suffering for animals—corporate pressure campaigns, negotiation, protest, policy change, digital activism, and more. This year, ACE recognizes our corporate campaigns as having a meaningful impact on the lives of countless animals.
“THL’s work to improve welfare standards, increase engagement in animal advocacy, and increase knowledge and skills for animal advocacy is highly promising because it focuses on animal groups, countries, and interventions that we consider high priority. Their work to improve farmed chicken welfare in the U.S. through corporate outreach, legislative outreach, and skill and network building is particularly likely to be impactful for farmed animals. While we expect all of our evaluated charities to be excellent examples of effective advocacy, THL is exceptional even within that group. Giving to THL is an excellent opportunity to support initiatives that create the most positive change for animals.” - Animal Charity Evaluators
We believe in focusing our collective energy where it will do the most good. Since chickens represent 90% of all land animals raised for food, any interventions we make for chickens have the greatest potential impact. And restrictive “battery cages”—small wire cages used to confine laying hens— are one of the worst sources of suffering for chickens. Ending the battery cage means ending the acute suffering of millions of birds.
This year, we’ve focused our efforts on ending battery cages for good. That includes setting an ambitious goal to spare 6.7 million egg-laying hens from cages. With deadlines fast approaching (or overdue) for companies to eliminate cages from their supply chains, ensuring that these companies are following through on their welfare commitments will be crucial to the success of our movement—and to the reduction of suffering for billions of animals raised for food.
This year alone, through the collective efforts of our changemaker community, we saw remarkable progress for animals:
- In an incredible victory for millions of egg-laying hens, Jollibee Foods Corporation—the largest and fastest-growing restaurant group in Asia and the owner of brands like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf—published a global commitment to end cages! The decision, which was the result of thousands of actions taken by THL staff, volunteers, and OWA members globally, will positively impact millions of hens around the world.
- The Open Wing Alliance, a global coalition of animal protection groups led by The Humane League, found that 89% of companies successfully eliminated cages by their 2022 deadlines.
- Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes, began publicly reporting its progress toward ending cages and remains committed to eliminating cages globally by 2030.
- In another series of victories by The Open Wing Alliance, Kellogg’s reinstated its global cage-free commitment on its website—including publishing a clear plan for ending cages by 2025. PepsiCo, the third largest global manufacturer, also began reporting its global progress and is on track to eliminate cages by 2025.
- Yum! Brands—the world’s largest service restaurant company and parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill—began reporting on its commitment to end cages by 2030. The company expects to complete its transition at most locations by 2026.
- Viking, a major cruise line, publicly pledged to stop sourcing eggs from hens confined in tiny wire cages by 2025 at the latest.
- Caffé Nero—which had made a global cage-free commitment in 2022, but had yet to report global progress—began reporting on progress to end cages.
- On May 11, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Proposition 12—widely considered the strongest animal protection law in the world. The Humane League was joined by a host of experts and advocates in defending the landmark law.
- Shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling, the pig industry began pushing the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act—which threatens to overturn state animal protection laws, including Proposition 12. In partnership with allied organizations, The Humane League quickly mobilized to fight back against this dangerous bill.
What you can do
Above all, changemakers like you are the driving force behind our global impact. When we work together, we disrupt “business as usual” in our profit-driven food system and change the lives of millions of innocent animals. Will you join us—and help pressure the world’s biggest and cruelest companies to end animal abuse?
