You Can Be an Animal Rights Activist. Here’s How

That’s why animals around the world need humans who will fight for their well-being. Activists and advocates who will refuse to support corporations that inflict suffering onto innocent, emotional creatures. Changemakers who spread the word within their communities, and fuel the grassroots movement toward a world where animals are treated with compassion—not cruelty.

If you’ve ever thought about becoming an animal rights activist, here’s everything you need to know to get started.

What is an animal rights activist?

An animal rights activist is someone who fights against the suffering of non-human animals. Many activists promote plant-based lifestyles—veganism or vegetarianism—to avoid supporting the suffering of animals in our food system. However, there are many other forms of suffering that an animal rights activist may rally against, such as animal-based sports and exhibitions, product and pharmaceutical testing in laboratories, the use of furand hide in the fashion industry, and the destruction of wildlife habitats.

Can anyone be an animal rights activist?

Yes, anyone can be an animal rights activist. There are plenty of ways, big and small, that everybody can contribute to creating a world in which animals are treated humanely and respectfully. If you're interested in joining the animal rights movement, but aren't sure where to start, making changes in your day-to-day life, such as your eating habits, is often the right first step.

Do you have to be vegan to be an animal rights activist?

Adopting a plant-based lifestyle such as veganism is one of the most impactful steps that an individual can take to support animal welfare, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, consume fewer resources, and become a healthier eater overall. While it's not the only way to promote animal rights, many activists consider plant-based eating to be central to the movement's philosophy.

Farming and food production is big business. The people running these businesses may not care about the welfare of the animals they've exploited for profit, but they do care about what consumers are buying. As more people adopt the compassionate diet of plant-based eating, it sends a clear message to Big Ag and Big Food that a growing portion of the market refuses to support industries that engage in animal cruelty.

How to become an animal rights activist

Learn about animal rights

Thanks to the power of popular culture and marketing by the big agriculture and food industries, the idea of choosing a lifestyle that prioritizes animal welfare might seem daunting at first. But, once you get more familiar with the animal rights issues, you may discover animal activism doesn't have to be overwhelming—in fact, it can be one of the most practical and just causes you can get behind. Animal rights is the philosophy that animals have inherent worth—beyond their value to humans—and that we should consider their basic interests, plain and simple.

There are many disturbing truths about large-scale industrial farming that are hiding in plain sight. Countless people in this country eat meals like fried chicken, bacon, and hamburgers every day without giving a second thought to how it got on their plate. Big Food and Big Ag corporations work hard, relying on deceptive marketing and ag-gag laws, to make sure that as few people as possible ask questions about where their food comes from. If more consumers only witnessed the full truth about the meat and dairy industries—like the forced debeaking of baby chicks who will rapidly grow so unnaturally large that they're crushed by their own body weight, or the repeated, forced impregnation of female pigs who are treated like "breeding machines" and forced to live life confined in tiny gestation crates where they can hardly move—those chicken fingers and pork chops just might become harder to stomach.

Learning about the daily suffering of so many animals is not easy, but it's important to understand the grim realities these innocent creatures face in order to remember why animal rights activism is so important.

Watch documentaries and read about animal issues

In the age of the internet, it has perhaps never been easier to access the droves of information about issues affecting animals all over the globe. Here are some great resources that can help get an aspiring activist started on their journey toward ending animal cruelty.

Animal Rights Documentaries

• Blackfish (2013), an emotional documentary that uncovers the cruelty that orcas in captivity face within the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry.

• Vegucated (2011), a documentary that follows the stories of three meat-and-cheese-eating New Yorkers who take up the challenge of going vegan for their personal health, but along the way learn about the hidden abuses in the agricultural industry.

• Dirty Birds (2015), a PBS documentary that takes viewers inside the sordid world of industrial chicken farming.

• Earthlings (2005), a notoriously hard-to-watch film that explores speciesism and the degree to which humans rely on animals purely for profit.

Animal rights reading

• Animal Liberation (1975), written by Australian philosopher Peter Singer and considered a foundational text on the ethical treatment of animals.

• Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (2009), a book that explores the social psychology of "carnism," the tacit belief system that conditions us to eat certain animals when we would never dream of eating others.

• How To Create a Vegan World (2017), combines vegan advocate Tobias Leenaert's extensive research and personal experience for a "pragmatic approach" to maximizing one's impact on ending animal suffering.

• The Journal of Animal Ethics, an academic journal dedicated to exploring the philosophy and science of the animal rights movement.

• Animal Sentience, a free online journal for those who want to learn about the thinking and feeling minds of animals.

• World Animal Protection reports, free-to-view reports that detail the latest on animal rights issues on farms and in the wild.

Identify your interests and strengths

A great way to create a better world for animals is to utilize the skills and interests you already have. There are many different facets of animal rights activism to pursue. One of the most widespread and pertinent issues affecting millions of animals each year, of course, is meat consumption and large-scale factory farming. However, some animal activists may channel their focus into other related areas, like spreading the word that leaving meat off our plates can quite literally save the planet, rescuing neglected and abused domestic animals, uncovering cruelty inflicted on animals in captivity, exposing the horror of fur farms, or working to end the inhumanity of raising animals for the sole purpose of racing and competition.

Once you have identified a particular area of interest, you can find the best way to make a positive impact by putting your own personal skills—perhaps organization, education, research, story-telling, graphic design, investigatory work, or social media engagement, to name a few—to work for the betterment of animals' lives.

Adopt a vegan lifestyle

Adopting a vegan lifestyle is an essential part of becoming an animal rights activist. It's something that almost anybody can do, and it truly makes a difference for the animals, the planet, and for your own personal health.

Making the transition looks different for everybody. While some may feel inspired to take the plunge into fully plant-based eating right away, others need to start more slowly, and that's okay. You can start by "adding before you subtract," incorporating plant-based alternatives into your diet before you fully cut out meat. For some, starting with a set schedule can be helpful. Doing "Meatless Mondays" is one great way to start slow. Even committing to a single plant-based meal each day reduces the same amount of carbon emissions as driving a car from New York to Los Angeles.

This article can help answer many of the questions you may have about why and how switching to vegan living works. You can also check out this free plant-based starter guide for tips, recipes, and tricks on how to make veganism a cinch.

Educate others on animal issues

Once you've educated yourself on the animal rights movement and begun to incorporate changes into your own life, a great next step is to spread the word. Tell your friends and family members about what plant-based eating has been like for you, and maybe clue them into some especially delicious recipes that they should try. Use the power of social media to post emotionally gripping articles or videos that highlight the dire need for animal rights activism. Send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. There are so many ways to share information about the plight of animals and the solutions we have within reach.

Connect with other animal rights activists

Both locally and globally, you're not alone in your desire to create a better world for animals. Within your own neighborhood, getting involved with your area's animal shelter is a promising way to find fellow animal lovers. A simple internet search, like "animal shelters in [your area]," will likely yield some helpful results. There are other resources, as well, such as www.211.org, that can help get you connected.

More broadly speaking, animal rights activists are, well, active on many platforms across the internet. Post or browse online communities like these animal rights and vegan groups on Reddit, or these animal rights and vegan-for-beginners groups on Facebook.

Additionally, this community-building website offers a resource with information on more than 300 animal activism communities and organizations throughout the world.

Get involved with an animal rights group

Big or small, animal rights groups are often nonprofit organizations that rely on donors and volunteers to operate effectively. Here's a list of some top animal rights groups to get involved with:

• American Humane: in action for more than 100 years, American Humane is behind many animal welfare certification programs in various industries, perhaps most famously setting the standard in film and television to ensure that "no animals were harmed" during productions involving real animals.

• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA): one of the earliest humane societies founded in North America, the ASPCA is one of the largest groups active today, with many local chapters and shelters throughout the country.

• The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF): this nonprofit works for the betterment of animals lives specifically through the legal system, holding animal abusers accountable in court, and pushing for tougher legislation on animal cruelty.

• The Humane Society of the United States: dedicated to fighting all forms of cruelty, this organization has taken on puppy mills, factory farms, the fur trade, trophy hunting, animal cosmetics testing and other cruel industries.

• Jane Goodall Institute: founded by and named after the trailblazing scientist whose research on chimpanzees changed the way we think about animals, the Jane Goodall Institute now promotes conservation, habitat protection, education, and further research.

Volunteer and take action

Once you have found either a global, national, or local organization that aligns with your vision for reducing animal suffering, the next step is to get involved. Check out the websites of larger organizations, which are sure to have tabs letting you know how to volunteer your time and talents, take part in demonstrations and initiatives, and otherwise support them. For more locally based groups and shelters, finding a phone number you can call directly might be the best bet for learning how to most effectively lend a helping hand.

Careers in animal rights

The animal rights field offers many different career opportunities. Whether you're looking to work for an ethical food producer, make changes in policy at the governmental level, conduct research for an organization, lead fundraising campaigns, or work directly rescuing, protecting, or rehabilitating animals, there are resources available to help you find a career in animal rights.

This online job board through Animal Advocacy Careers allows you to enter demographic information and your areas of expertise to connect you with the animal advocacy careers that might suit you best.

Get started

Animals deserve rights. The right to be treated humanely, ethically, and respectfully. Sadly, countless animals throughout the world will never enjoy these rights, because of cruel industries that exploit them for profit.

That is why non-human animals need human advocates and activists to fight for their rights, give voice to the voiceless, and make change happen for a more compassionate, cruelty-free world.

By volunteering with The Humane League, you can get directly involved in campaigns against corporations committing animal cruelty, help grow the plant-based movement, join a thriving community of animal activists, and receive one-on-one guidance from experienced changemakers. Click here to learn how you can volunteer with The Humane League and be the change for animals today.