THE CASE STUDY PROVING THIS MOVEMENT WORKS
Julia Tomkins Wisner
The Urban Institute’s new case study highlights how corporate campaigning reshaped the animal agriculture supply chain—and how supporters like you made it possible.
It started with a simple idea: corporations shouldn’t be allowed to profit from cruelty. Your actions turned that belief into a movement. This study shows just how far it’s come—and how far we can go.
A new case study from the Urban Institute—a nonpartisan think tank founded by President Lyndon B. Johnson—examines how animal advocates have influenced corporate behavior over the past two decades. The takeaway? When people like you speak up, companies listen—and change moves up the corporate ladder.
The report spotlights The Humane League’s approach, including the launch of the Fast Action Network. This digital tool helps everyday advocates take strategic, coordinated action—and it’s part of what makes the movement so effective.
Every email you send, every petition you’ve signed, every action you’ve taken—it all adds up. And now, one of the country’s top research institutes is recognizing that impact. That’s the power of organized compassion.
How corporations got the memo
The study charts a major shift in how companies treat animals—starting in the early 2000s and accelerating ever since. More than 3,000 brands, from household names to global giants like McDonald’s and Starbucks, have made commitments to improve their treatment of animals. Not just vague promises, either. Real policy changes. Real supply chain overhauls. Real impact.
These changes have spared billions of animals from extreme confinement—including hens once crammed into tiny battery cages. Track the rise of cage-free progress, one promise at a time.
None of it happened by chance. This shift came from consumer pressure—persistent, strategic, and impossible to ignore. When corporations realize cruelty is bad for business, evolution becomes a line item.
Red tape can’t hold this movement back
The study points to a few key reasons this shift happened—and why it keeps gaining traction.
For starters, public pressure stepped in where government protections fell short. With little oversight for farmed animals, the movement found a different route: straight to the corporations profiting from cruelty.
By staying grounded in practical solutions—and speaking to shared values like transparency and compassion—advocates like you built bridges, not backlash. And here’s what really stood out: companies are more responsive to pressure than ever before. In a world of viral news and instant visibility, your voice doesn’t just matter—it moves decision-makers.
Read the full case study to see how that pressure is reshaping the future.
Corporate cruelty doesn’t clock out—neither do we
Thanks to your advocacy, animal protection is no longer sitting on the sidelines. It’s showing up in boardrooms, on supply chain roadmaps, and in decision decks across industries.
Together, we’re building a world where animals aren’t an afterthought—they’re a bottom-line consideration. And we’re not clocking out until compassion is standard operating procedure.
