FAQs

A vegan is a person who refrains from eating, using, and wearing products that derive from an animal. As well as not eating animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs, and honey, vegans also refrain from wearing products coming from an animal, such as leather, wool, and silk.

While people have different reasons for going vegan, many choose this lifestyle on moral grounds - with the belief that animals are not ours to use in any way, and choose veganism as a way to take action for animals.

There are many benefits to going vegan. First, vegans save approximately one animal per day. Every time we choose a vegan option, we are choosing compassion and voting against the extreme cruelty that farmed animals endure in places like factory farms and slaughterhouses.

Choosing to eat vegan can also make a positive impact on the environment; a vegan saves approximately 1,100 gallons of water and 30 square feet of forest every day - this is because these resources are heavily used to feed and raise farmed animals who are later killed so that their bodies can be sold as meat.

Animal agriculture is also one of the leading contributors to climate change and other environmental destruction, so by going vegan, we’re doing our part to protect the planet.

Going vegan can also have a positive impact on our health. Eating meat is a leading cause of heart disease, which is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. Consumption of animal products has also been linked to other chronic diseases including cancer and diabetes, with the World Health Organization also classing processed meats as a Type 1 carcinogen (placing it in the same category as tobacco in terms of damage caused to overall health).

Animal Outlook is a national non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C and Los Angeles.

Founded in 1995, Animal Outlook started out as a high school club aiming to expose the hidden cruel realities of animal agriculture and advocate against it, promoting a vegan lifestyle.

Animal Outlook’s groundbreaking work has been featured in high-profile media platforms across the U.S., bringing widespread awareness to hundreds of millions of people every year.

Animal Outlook’s mission is focused on: ‘Exposing truth. Inspiring change.’ It strategically challenges animal agribusiness through undercover investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and educating the public about the many harms of animal agriculture, empowering everyone to choose vegan.

Animal Outlook’s undercover investigations shine a light on the hidden violence forced upon billions of farmed animals. Investigators uncover not just random acts of cruelty, but standard cruel practices often involving mutilations like debeaking or castration, which are performed without pain relief.

Our work has resulted in numerous animal cruelty charges, including for standard practices, successful federal and state lawsuits, and articles in esteemed publications like The New York Times, Washington Post, and the BBC.

Yes, but certainly not enough, and not necessarily in the ways you would think. First, on a federal (national) level, animal protection laws are painfully inadequate. The Animal Welfare Act does not apply to farmed animals, so the only two federal laws designed to protect farmed animals are the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act and the 28-Hour Law--and they're very weak. The 28-Hour Law, for example, makes it illegal to transport animals for 28 hours without giving them a break . . . meaning 27 hours in the back of a truck is lawful. Even so, it is almost never enforced, letting animals languish in longer than 28 hour trips unabated.

Because federal laws are so weak, the only laws that apply to farmed animals from birth or hatching through transport to slaughter are state cruelty laws. Many of these laws, as written, should protect all animals, even though many have exemptions for certain standard agricultural practices. In practice, however, law enforcement is often reluctant to prosecute acts of cruelty to the fullest extent of the law.

That's why much of animal law is "outside the box." As it turns out, some of the strongest U.S. laws protecting animals are not laws protecting animals at all. These laws include: consumer protection laws, which allow lawyers to attack corporations for humane-washing; antitrust laws, which allow us to attack the industry for collusive behavior; and free speech laws, which allow us to defend the free speech of activists like you.

Animals are bred to keep up with the current demand for animal products, and this demand is currently at a record high. Approximately 10 billion animals are slaughtered for food every single year in the U.S., with an additional 47 billion aquatic animals also being killed.

If fewer people ate animal products, farmers would adjust by breeding, raising, and slaughtering fewer animals. Animal Outlook’s Farm Transitions program supports farmers to do this, and to switch to plant-based agriculture instead.

We can all survive and thrive on a well-balanced, vegan diet.

Luckily, protein is abundant in many of the foods available to us, which is why protein deficiency is so rare in the United States. This extends to vegans too, in fact - vegetarians and vegans average 70% more protein than they need every day.

Soy, seitan, whole grains, green veggies, nuts, and seeds are examples of widely recommended vegan sources of protein.

It is absolutely critical to work together towards a more fair and just society, and animal agriculture encompasses some of the most urgent social justice issues of our time. We cannot effectively advocate for social justice without addressing the devastating impact that animal agriculture has on so many areas.

For example, people working in factory farms and slaughterhouses often face severe battles such as potentially unsafe working conditions, risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and illnesses from performing repetitive motions for hours on end.

Further, the majority of slaughterhouse workers are people of color, who come from predominantly low-income communities. An estimated 38% of these slaughterhouse workers were born outside of the U.S., and an unknown percentage of those are undocumented immigrants.

The psychological effects and toll taken on slaughterhouse workers can also be tied to violence outside of the slaughterhouse. A study published in 2009, by researchers Amy J. Fitzgerald, Linda Kalof, and Thomas Dietz analyzes the connections between slaughterhouses and increased crime rates. Their study found that slaughterhouse employment led to an increase of overall crime, particularly violent and sexual crimes.

Standing up for animals also means standing up for humans.

During several years of research and development, Animal Outlook conducted research projects working with the Yale Environmental Protection Clinic and the Center for Public Interest Communications at the University of Florida. The research summarized how to use science-backed frameworks and methods to influence behavior change, and applied it to engaging with people to inspire more people to eat vegan. Applying the science of behavior change to advocacy is the core part of Animal Outlook’s new animal advocacy training program.