Each year, the Animal Agriculture Alliance unearths the latest strategies and tactics from the animal rights movement – in their own words – by issuing reports from various conferences. So far in 2025, the Alliance has released insights into three different events: Animal Legal Defense Fund’s (ALDF) 2025 Animal Law Symposium; the 2025 Animal & Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit; and Direct Action Everywhere’s (DxE) 2025 Animal Liberation Conference (ALC). While each conference focuses on slightly different themes within the movement, there are several overlapping trends.
Grassroots and political influence building
For the last several years, animal rights groups have increasingly focused on grassroots campaigns to support ballot measures, direct candidate engagement, and leveraging local elections. One speaker stated, “There’s this shift in our movement’s framing from focusing on consumer advocacy, where people are most hostile to us, to this kind of civic and political conversation where they’re much more open to what we have to say.” The speaker claimed that civic and political engagement is not directly focused on individual change so it’s easier for people to support it, even if in practice it will force the individual to make a change.
When it comes to candidate engagement and elections, one speaker stated that “votes are what politicians want above anything” and insinuated that the animal rights movement can help them get votes by “mobiliz[ing] people in the race.” As another speaker put it: “We don’t have to wait for these decision makers to change their minds about animals. We can take that into our own hands, and we can shift the agenda.”
Legal challenges targeting animal agriculture
The use of legal challenges to target animal agriculture was also a key topic of discussion. Several sessions focused on legal strategies, including calling out “gaps” in animal cruelty laws and intent to pursue public interest litigation. Establishing legal standing for animals was also addressed, noting that animal rights groups often face challenges in court when a primary focus of their organization is advocacy, rather than direct care to animals. Speakers recommended incorporating sanctuaries into legal challenges to boost their odds of asserting legal standing.
Cross-sector collaboration
Another central trend from these conferences was an expressed need for coalition-building with other movements to further the animal rights agenda. Suggestions from speakers included partnering with climate justice and Palestinian rights groups to extend their reach. In the past, the animal rights movement has also suggested partnering with labor unions and other social justice movements.
As animal rights groups continue their crusade against animal agriculture, the food and farming communities need to be aware of their tactics and strategies. For more information about the animal rights movement or to find farm security best practices to make yourself a harder target, visit www.animalagalliance.org.
Emily Ellis is the manager of communications and content at the Animal Agriculture Alliance. In her role, she works to execute the Alliance’s issues management and communications strategy.
