Our Campaigns and Accomplishments in
This year has been challenging to say the least. When the war broke out, Animals Now took action. We rescued animals from conflict zones and brought hot vegan meals to thousands of people. Throughout 2023 we kept doing what we know and love: We promoted animal rights online, in schools, and on the ground. We advocated for animals in government and in court. And we supported over 170,000 people worldwide in their first steps towards veganism.
We took action after the October 7th attack
Deeply shocked and saddened by the brutal Hamas attack, we felt compelled to contribute to relief efforts. We rescued hundreds of animals missing or trapped in factory farms, including chickens, turkeys, goats, dogs and cats. We transferred animals to sanctuaries, foster families and forever homes, who will provide them with the care and love they deserve to live their lives in safety and freedom. The rescue project was covered extensively by the media.
Our dedicated activists launched an initiative to provide thousands of hot vegan meals to anyone in need – survivors of the Nova music festival massacre, families of hostages and reserve forces, and displaced and evacuated people from warzones. Thousands of comforting, nutritious vegan meals were delivered all over the country by over 200 volunteers and 30 businesses, who joined forces to make this a success, and the amazing responses of the recipients continue to pour in.
We launched an emergency digital platform dedicated to reuniting families with their lost companion animals who fled their homes due to the October 7th attack, in the hope that they will all find their way back home. We’re celebrating every family reunion made possible by our initiative, and we are so thankful to every activist and association involved for their support.
Several videos we shared (in Hebrew), including a video showing our animal rescues and a video from our hot meals project, reached millions of views and touched the hearts of viewers on days when we all needed a little hope.
We continued to fight for animals on all fronts
We promoted veganism worldwide with Challenge 22
Dedicated vegan mentors, professional dietitians, and a caring, supportive community are the winning recipe that defines Challenge 22. The program supports people as they discover the joys and advantages of a vegan lifestyle, and in 2023 we supported over 170,000 participants around the world in their first steps towards veganism! Vegan challenges in English, Spanish, and Hebrew use Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms to reach participants and provide ongoing support. All of this is only possible thanks to our amazing volunteers, brought together by the drive to make the world a better place – thank you so much, all of you!
The Challenge 22 Community project also continues to take the world by storm, providing the renowned Challenge 22 support tailored to the local language and culture, with Denmark being our newest addition in 2023. As part of our collaboration with 11 organizations from different countries, we supported over 100,000 more new vegans!
The end of the cage age: We made our victory a reality
We urged for the swift implementation of regulations banning cages in the egg industry, and resistance to pressure from the egg industry to delay the deadline. We joined discussions in parliament about the cramped cages, smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, that chickens are confined to. We presented proposals to drive the shift towards the end of caged eggs for good.
We advocated for the end of caged eggs in the food industry. We supported corporations to fulfill their commitment to move to cage-free, and we also encouraged local businesses, restaurants and hotels, to join the movement. Many businesses have already opted to stop using caged eggs in 2023, and we will continue to demand even more corporations to go cage-free in 2024.
As members of the Open Wing Alliance, we joined an international conference in Prague alongside representatives from 52 organizations and 44 countries. We attended lectures and shared our experience of working with corporations to improve outcomes for animals. We were impressed by the international cooperation – all for a common goal.
We promoted policy measures for a 50% reduction in animal-based food
We joined forces with many environmental, food, and animal organizations to promote a governmental policy reducing the production and consumption of animal-based foods. In the report of the Governmental Committee for the transformation of food systems to combat the climate crisis, we were able to incorporate recommendations for a 50% reduction in the production and consumption of animal-based food in Israel by 2030. The steps include: a reduction in animal-based food in the catering of public institutions and local authorities; public information campaigns in the educational system and in the training of educational and medical personnel; support for businesses that reduce their animal-based food options; and formulation of restrictions on advertising animal-based foods harmful to the environment and public health. We will work to ensure that the government approves, budgets, and implements all the recommended policy measures.
We helped promote measures for a 50% reduction in the animal-based food served in public institutions, as part of a green catering tender, soon to be launched by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The measures include: a significant increase in the percentage of plant-based options, incentives for caterers to develop appetizing vegan dishes, and improved accessibility of vegan options to all.
We joined the push to include food policy in climate agreements
Before and during the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28) we joined the call to add policies that reduce animal-based food to international climate agreements. We worked with organizations and government officials at the conference, and made significant progress! The main agreement signed at the climate conference now urges countries to report the measures they take to transform their food systems in response to the climate crisis. The United Nations has already recognized that one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change is by promoting plant-based foods and reducing consumption of animal-based food – considering the substantial resources required to produce animal-based foods. We will continue to fight for the inclusion and implementation of binding agreements in Israel and beyond, and to realize these significant steps to reduce the environmental damage done by factory farms.
We kept fighting to stop Live Shipments
On the International Day to Ban Live Exports we organized events in Israel and online. Several members of the Israeli parliament submitted queries at our request regarding the lack of any enforcement of regulations on animal export ships. We joined discussions where the industry aimed to promote ‘relaxed regulations’ in the construction of quarantine stations. We showed photographs taken by our investigation team documenting the cruel treatment in cattle and sheep quarantines, from facility workers beating and electrocuting animals, to piles of animal carcasses thrown outside facilities. We called on members of parliament to scrap amendments that would allow an increase in live shipments and to act now to stop this abuse.
Six bills are currently on the table to stop the live shipment of sheep and cows, and two more bills to stop shipments of sheep, submitted by members of parliament from across the political spectrum. In 2023, there was a slight decrease in the number of live shipments to Israel for the first time in many years, and our fight continues.
We stood firm against plans to cage chickens in the meat industry
Four years ago, we were appalled by the construction of a huge caged chicken facility, the first of its kind in the country. This would be a new form of abuse, exacerbating the already horrifying conditions chickens endure in the meat industry. When the new caged facility received approval, we fought back in court.
Following our struggle, the Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it will no longer allow the facility to operate, due to the severe suffering it would cause to the animals. The owners of the chicken facility filed a petition against this decision, but thankfully the court rejected the petition this year. The Ministry of Agriculture now officially recognizes that confining chickens in cages is animal abuse.
At the same time, the Prosecution Department of the office absurdly decided this year to close the investigation file that was opened following our investigation into the chicken facility. We received this news only after we had submitted a petition to the High Court, and subsequently we filed an appeal with the State Attorney’s Office for closing this case.
We advocated for animals in parliament
We represented the voice of animals in parliament, in meetings with government ministers and their teams, seeking support for animal protection legislation among members of parliament from across the political spectrum. We discussed accelerating the transition to cage-free chicken facilities; a ban on live shipments; strategies to meet the national goal to reduce production and consumption of animal-based food; removing destructive fishing trawlers from our oceans; banning glue traps; and improving the enforcement of the Animal Cruelty Act.
We participated in an Animal Protection Day event in parliament and presented our agenda in committee hearings. Members of parliament were shocked by the lack of enforcement of the Animal Cruelty Act, and demanded increased enforcement and the promotion of alternatives to live shipments. An exhibition of photographs taken by activists from Animals Now and other organizations displayed the horrendous conditions animals endure in factory farms.
Despite the passage of the Animal Cruelty Act exactly 30 years ago, it is shockingly still not enforced on dairy farms. Supervision is inadequate, and enforcement is non-existent. We joined the State Audit Committee’s discussion of the 2023 report into the dairy industry, which included severe criticism of the suffering of cows in the industry’s various facilities.
We created a handbook for the municipal elections about animals, sustainability, health and nutrition, which we distributed with our friends at ‘Let the Animals Live’ leading up to the elections (which were postponed due to the war).
We taught compassion and created tools for educators
This year we continued sowing the seeds of compassion among younger generations. Our long-standing program ‘Share the World’ runs lectures and workshops on animal rights. Our ‘Change Starts On Our Plates’ program, co-run with ‘Life & Environment’ and the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Health, provides experiential educational sessions on sustainable nutrition, focusing on plant-based foods. We reached 35,000 youth and educators from various backgrounds, in 180 schools, youth movements, and schools training the next generation of teachers. Our ‘Change Starts On Our Plates’ program was approved for use in the IDF, where we have launched a program of lectures.
We organized the 6th conference on education for compassion, which was attended by 80 educators. This year we held the conference at the Teva Hakesher rescue, an educational sanctuary for the rescue and rehabilitation of animals, for the first time. Our thanks go to the sanctuary and the local education department for this special opportunity. At the farm we introduced the educators to the animals, and learned with them about the educational work carried out by this and other rescue farms. We shared practical educational tools for developing compassion for animals that avoid bringing animals to school, which causes animals great distress.
We continued to add new instructional content on animal rights and sustainability to our educational website, which is visited by thousands of individuals every month, and we created special educational content for use during the war.
We fought for animals online, in the media, and on the ground
Our outreach chapters organized dozens of events throughout Israel and hosted an Animal Rights Day at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. We also participated in Pride marches in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa; the Vegan Fest, the world’s largest vegan festival organized by Vegan Friendly, an Israeli vegan non-profit; and the White Night events in Tel Aviv. At these events we signed up hundreds of new participants for Challenge 22.
We kept amplifying the voices of animals online, across the more than 20(!) different Hebrew, Arabic, and English websites we run, which reached over 1.8 million users this year. We upgraded our main website, the Israeli Vegetarian and Vegan site, adding new pages, including a massive database of vegan products found in supermarkets and health food stores. We added new recipes and collaborated with talented social media influencers. Thousands of people signed up to receive our newsletter offering recipes and tips, while our updated blog attracted tens of thousands of visitors this year. Our article “What is the most dangerous animal in the world?” (in Hebrew) topped all popular related searches on Google.
Across all languages, our Facebook, Instagram, and other social media pages collectively reached over 26 million views. We uploaded 7 full-length videos and 70 shorts on YouTube, which received more than 2 million views, and on TikTok we reached about 18 million views.
This year, Animals Now content was featured on various media channels across television and radio, including some of Israel’s most popular news channels and websites. Our activists were interviewed on live shipments, the environmental damage of the meat industry, Challenge 22, our legal battles, and even the 20th anniversary of the landmark High Court ruling that banned the force-feeding of geese – after a long fight by Animals Now.
We demanded better lives for animals in court
The fur industry’s historic defeat in court: Two years ago, historic regulations were signed banning the trade of wild animal fur in the fashion industry, marking our victory in our long fight against fur. However, industry officials filed a petition against this decision. In 2023, the High Court dismissed this petition, stating that the ban has “significant social benefits” including reducing animal suffering and exploitation of wild animals for commercial and recreational purposes, promoting compassion and mercy towards animals, and discouraging exploitation of animals for profit. The court acknowledged the overwhelming public support for the ban. This support came from each and every one of you who responded to our call and came together to make the fur industry a thing of the past.
This year, a hearing was held at the High Court of Justice on the petition Animals Now and many other organizations submitted against the decision to cancel import taxes on beef and processed meat. Unfortunately, despite public and governmental support of our position, the court decided not to intervene. However, in their verdict, the judges emphasized that “this does not diminish the importance of discussing the health, social, and environmental aspects of the issues raised.” This highlights the dire need for a change in the discourse on meat consumption policy, and the level of support amongst the public. We stand strong against government support for meat consumption and advocate for healthy and sustainable plant-based foods.
This year we also filed several appeals with the State Attorney’s Office in response to the dismissal of our complaints about the suffering of fish in massive fish farms and the Live Shipments industry. We will not stop until all animal abusers are held accountable.
Join us for another active year transforming the reality of animals for the better!
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