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.
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.
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:
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.
Brazil: 6,900
Mexico: 1,200
Brazil: 329,400
Mexico: 77,100
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.
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.
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.
After a two-week campaign by Mercy For Animals, Zaffari committed to going 100 percent cage-free in Brazil. With 37 locations, Zaffari is one of the 10 largest retailers in the country.
Fresh Brothers Pizza committed to a chicken welfare policy for its supply chain that will prohibit the use of lower-welfare breeds; meet Global Animal Partnership standards for lighting, litter, and enrichments; remove all cages; ensure compliance with third-party audits; and eliminate live-shackle slaughter.
&Pizza, Legends Hospitality, and Farmer’s Fridge have all committed to chicken welfare policies after pressure from Mercy For Animals and partner organizations.
After months of talks with Mercy For Animals and a partner organization, B.LEM, a Portuguese bakery chain in Brazil with 23 stores, committed to going 100 percent cage-free.
Pastelería Alcazar, a bakery chain with 16 locations in Mexico City, committed to going cage-free by 2025.
Mexico: 1
Brazil: 3
United States: 4
Canada: none this month
Mercy For Animals weighed in through formal public comments on the Hong Kong Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance. In a letter to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, we urged that all farmed animals be included under anti-cruelty protections. Our staff in the region also attended public meetings on the issue to give further support for farmed animals.
Mercy For Animals supporters in Mexico distributed leaflets and connected with activists and influencers at a two-day veg fest in Holistika, Mexico.
We won’t stop until Grupo Pão de Açúcar agrees to say goodbye to cruel cages for hens. After conducting eye-catching demonstrations in June, this month we launched bus and poster ads about the campaign. We also released a video showing people’s reactions to footage of caged hens and their responses to whether they know where most of the eggs in GPA stores come from.
We believe that the world’s mightiest institutions will heed the call to reform when it comes from powerful and interconnected communities. That’s why our supporters are so important. And in July, Mercy For Animals activists hosted 68 actions!
Brazil: 205
Mexico: 12
United States: 74
Brazil: 65
Mexico: 1
United States: 2
Brazil: 22
Mexico: 2
United States: 13
The vegan scene in Brazil is on fire! In a four-page spread in VegNews magazine, our communications director in Brazil takes readers on a tour of the best restaurants and the animal-activism scene in the country.
Eighteen Mercy For Animals team members attended the annual Animal Rights National Conference in Washington, DC, to collaborate with other activists and organizations; learn new ideas and strategies; connect with volunteers and donors; and share knowledge. Staff members presented on topics ranging from working through discomfort in the movement to measuring our impact.
Through investigations and public engagement, Mercy For Animals opens eyes and hearts to the suffering farmed animals endure. Our videos, websites, and print resources empower people to join our mighty movement.
Mexico: 9.9 million
Brazil: 40 million
United States: 21.2 million
Mexico: 478,395
Brazil: 64,600
United States: 821,598
Mexico: 100
Brazil: 11,966
United States: none this month
Mexico: 14
Brazil: none this month
United States: 55
Mexico: 2
Brazil: none this month
United States: none this month
United States: 160,856
Mexico: 286,000
—Camilla, an undercover investigator in Brazil