In Surge co-founder Ed Winter’s latest video he examined COP26, food technology innovations and animal sentience legislation to answer the question, was there any progress for the vegan movement? Claire Hamlett reviews more of the year that was 2021 for animal justice activism.

After the restricted lives that we had to lead in 2020, animal advocates have been relieved to get back out into the world to take action for animals this year and see the movement grow. Things certainly started off promisingly, with more people taking up the Veganuary challenge than ever before. Importantly, of the 582,000 people who took part globally, almost half said that their primary motivation was animals. 

Broadly speaking, 2021 does seem to have brought a greater awareness, socially and politically, of the harms done to animals in the name of human desires including food and fashion. The environmental impacts of animal agriculture also became a hot topic of debate, though shockingly it didn’t make it onto the agenda of the UN Climate Summit COP26 which was held in Glasgow last month. Perhaps feeling the pressure of greater public concern about their practices, the meat and dairy industries have also pushed back hard on plant-based and animal advocates this year.

So here is a selection of some of the actions, wins, losses and baby steps towards justice for animals made in 2021.

Crackdowns on animal activism

Turning first to some of the negative developments of 2021, co-founder of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), Wayne Hsiung, has been found guilty on charges of felony larceny and breaking or entering for rescuing a sick baby goat from Sospiro Goat Ranch in 2018 because domesticated animals are legally property. The judge in the case issued a suspended sentence, meaning Hsiung will be on supervised probation for two years and will pay $250 in restitution to the ranch owners. An article in the Intercept before the case concluded described the “hefty charges” as demonstrating “that current legal standards elevate property over life to an extreme degree.”

Over in Canada, Manitoba became the latest province to pass an “ag gag” law in May. Activists who “interact” with animals being transported, such as by offering them water, will be committing an offence, while peaceful protest on public property, including outside of slaughterhouses, could be restricted.

Political progress

Despite some reactionary developments against animal activists, this year has seen some progress for animals in the political arena, particularly in Europe. Though it may be paving the way to a better future for animals, at this rate that road will still be very long indeed. 

In May, the European Parliament rejected an attempt by the dairy industry to stop “dairy” terms being used on plant-based alternatives like oat milk. Two months later, the MEPs also voted to ban cages for farmed animals. Good news for the 300 million animals currently kept crammed in cages across the continent, but Surge raised some reasons to be concerned about the proposals as they stand, including the fact that they won’t be implemented for another six years. Meanwhile, France introduced its climate and resilience bill which included a plan to make it mandatory for state-run canteens to have one meat-free day a week. 

Some governments are also starting to accept that animals are not merely automatons responding to external stimuli. Both Britain and Spain have passed laws acknowledging animal sentience. Spanish courts will now have to consider the good of companion animals in cases of divorce or inheritance, rather than viewing them merely as property, while this means some animal protection laws have been toughened up in the UK.

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The ‘trail hunting’ facade cracks, irreparably

After the Hunt Saboteurs Association leaked webinars being held by the Hunting Office in August 2020, the UK’s fox hunting community has taken hit after hit. In October this year, leading huntsman Mark Hankinson was found guilty of encouraging others to use the legal activity of ‘trail hunting’ as a smokescreen for illegal fox hunting. A fortnight later, members of the National Trust voted overwhelmingly to ban trail hunting on the charity’s 250,000 hectares of land, a decision the National Trust board has now honoured. Several other landowners have since followed suit, including National Resources Wales and Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Direct action and initiatives for the animals

Using animals in laboratory experiments is back in the spotlight this year after the Camp Beagle protest, which started with just two people, grew into a movement of thousands. Marshall Bio Resources (MBR) in Cambridgeshire breeds around 2000 beagles a year for use in laboratory tests. Dog-lovers from across the country have set up camp outside MBR’s doors in a bid to draw attention to the cruelty of the business and get it shut down. Police presence at the camp has been significant and MBR has tried to use court injunctions to keep protesters away, but the camp is still going strong.

This year saw the launch of the Plant Based Treaty, an initiative to get individuals, NGOs, businesses, cities and states to commit to a plant-based food system. Campaigners took the message of the treaty to COP26 and has been endorsed by environmentalists including George Monbiot, IPCC scientists, and Nobel laureates as well as youth climate activists. Animal agriculture has long been a bit of a blind spot within the climate movement, so it’s encouraging to see it receiving more attention.

Activist group Animal Rebellion have also been busy this year putting animal agriculture in the spotlight. Their activities included scaling a government building to hang a banner ahead of COP26 demanding investment in a plant-based future; blockading McDonald’s UK burger factory for 24 hours and a distribution centre of dairy giant Arla Foods; and leading an animal rights march through central London as part of the two-week rebellion in August and September.

As for Surge, our investigation into pig farm Willerby World Piggeries made it into the Independent and resulted in major supermarkets dropping the farm as supplier. We also obtained fresh footage from inside British chicken farms, revealing the cruel and unsanitary conditions in which the chickens are forced to live. We also relaunched our Campus Rep and Mentor programmes. Something we’re particularly pleased about is that, since announcing the opening of the Surge Sanctuary in December 2020, it has grown from being home to a few residents to more than 100 rescued farmed animals.

Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.

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