July 2019Monthly Impact Report
July Progress
Mercy For Animals investigations open eyes and spark change on social media, but they also move corporations and governments to act. Just look at July’s huge achievement. Armed with undercover footage and staunch determination, Mercy For Animals’ team in Mexico collaborated closely with the country’s senate to approve a proposal that urges the agricultural ministry to implement stringent animal welfare standards.
In Brazil, we trained 215 enthusiastic school chefs in the state of Rio de Janeiro on how to prepare plant-based feijoada, chili, milk, and much more.
Watching From Above
United States, Mexico
We used a drone to expose the last place animals go before entering a slaughterhouse. The video shows hundreds of cows being whipped and prodded through a series of pens and walkways leading to their deaths. One animal makes a desperate attempt to escape. He frantically searches for a way out but is trapped by bars on all sides and can’t slip through a narrow gap. The heartbreaking video continues to pick up views on social media.
After weeks traveling across Mexico, our investigators compiled the first drone footage of factory farms in Latin America. This must-watch video reveals the enormous scale of these facilities and the environmental threat they pose.
Gaining Support in Congress
Mexico
Mexico’s senate unanimously approved a proposal that urges the country’s agricultural ministry to reduce the suffering of farmed animals. Mercy For Animals wrote the proposal, formally known as a point of agreement.
The agreement states that the senate urges the agricultural ministry to take the following actions:
- Revamp the country’s regulations for the transport of animals to conform to international animal welfare standards
- Update common farming practices to meet international animal welfare standards
- Verify and inspect all slaughterhouses in the country to ensure compliance with all laws and regulations and apply legal sanctions to noncompliant facilities to prevent and counter acts of egregious animal cruelty
- Permanently close any slaughterhouse operating informally
Changing Institutions
Mexico, Brazil
The lower the demand for meat, dairy, and eggs, the fewer animals will be born into misery at factory farms. Mercy For Animals works to decrease demand by partnering with major institutions in Mexico and Brazil, such as schools and local governments, to reduce meat, dairy, and eggs served by at least 20 percent.
8,100
Animals Potentially Spared Through Institutional Policies
Brazil: 6,900
Mexico: 1,200
406,500
Vegan Meals
Served
Brazil: 329,400
Mexico: 77,100
215
Chefs Trained in Plant-Based Nutrition and Cooking
20
Nutritionists Trained in Plant-Based Nutrition and Cooking
Empowering School Chefs With Plant-Based Training
Brazil
Mercy For Animals’ Alimentação Consciente food policy program in Brazil trained 215 school chefs in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The chefs learned how to prepare plant-based feijoada and tutu, two traditional Brazilian dishes. They also made chili, stroganoff, and three types of plant-based milk. The chefs were thrilled with the new recipes.
Telling Miguelito’s Story
Mexico
Mercy For Animals released our sixth investigation at government-owned slaughterhouses across Mexico. Our investigator documented baby pigs carelessly tossed, cut open, and left bleeding—all while conscious and able to feel pain. Read about piglets like Miguelito.
Chipping Away at McDonald’s
United States
With signs declaring, “I’m Not Lovin’ It,” and “McCruelty,” more than 140 activists gathered near a McDonald’s restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia. The company has refused to commit to many basic welfare standards for chickens suffering in its supplier farms. These animals are bred to grow so fast that their legs buckle under them and are kept in darkness for most of their lives in crowded sheds filled with acrid ammonia fumes.
Massive demonstrations, thousands of emails to executives, and social media pressure have yet to budge the fast-food giant. But we will keep fighting.
