Groups like the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS) have long courted support among company shareholders with the hope of furthering its "vegan and no-more-eating-animals" agenda. Typically, these corporate shareholder efforts are far more about gaining media attention than driving any substantive change.
Recently animal rights and vegan-loving groups have sought out a new strategy - gaining the ear of firms that advise investors, reported the January 27, 2015, edition of The Wall Street Journal.
The idea is that financial advisory firms detail the risk that could arise from a food company's reliance on a particular industry and its use of a practice such as gestation crates or placing laying hens in cages. So far the strategy appears to be working slightly better than the previous plan about corporate resolutions at annual shareholder meetings.
"Animal rights proposals have single-digit voting success at corporate shareholder annual meetings," said James Copland, speaking at the International Dairy Foods Association's Dairy Forum in late January.
"Activists bring forth proposals because of the press it generates at shareholder meetings. With a small budget and some social media, activists get a great deal of media coverage," commented the senior fellow and director of Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Policy.
What advice did Copland have for companies when dealing with animals rights groups?
"I don't think by giving in you (companies) are going to get activists to go away. In fact, when companies concede, many activists come on more strongly with proposals," explained Copland.
"Being more politically active tends to draw more shareholder activist proposals," said Copland. "Companies who spend more on Republican candidates are also more likely to be targeted for activism."
"Businesses that drop out of trade associations because of activist pressure merely face going it alone. That is not a good strategy," advised Copland.
As for dairy-related activist proposals . . . "Cattle dehorning has recently popped up on activist's radars for shareholder proposals," he told the international audience of dairy processors and farmers.
February 16, 2015
