What we’ve achieved for animals in 2022, with your help

A white-feathered chicken standing on a striped towel on the grass with a pair of sunglasses on the towel. There is a wall and plant pots behind her.
The head and neck of a white-feathered chicken seen side-on. She has a bright red wattle and comb. She is standing in front of a white mottled wall.

As the year comes to a close, I wanted to share with you what we’ve achieved this year, just our second since we launched at the start of 2021.

As part of the Effective Altruism community, our mission remains to end the suffering of farmed animals – with our focus squarely on reducing some of the worst suffering for chickens bred for meat. 

Chickens are naturally curious and playful. They have a lifespan similar to most dogs and will bond with humans if given the opportunity. The way they are bred and raised on barren factory farms is one of the cruellest practices in Aotearoa.

Now more than ever, people are becoming aware of the unnatural breeds of chickens used in Aotearoa and the suffering caused by their abnormally fast growth. The momentum is building, helping us to grow our pledge signatures, launch a new petition and get more and more supporters to contact food brands directly. 

Behind the scenes, we’ve been able to use our increased profile and support to successfully work with food businesses to commit them to increase their chicken welfare standards. This means the chicken industry must rise to meet this demand by shifting to healthier chicken breeds who grow more naturally and have much better living conditions. 

This year, not only did we get our first commitment to the Better Chicken Commitment (the second ever in Aotearoa) from ready-meal company SwoleFoods, we went on to get the two largest meal kits to sign up too – My Food Bag and HelloFresh.

As well as these commitments – the core of our work to give chickens much better lives – some other signs of our progress include:

  • Launching the Australia-New Zealand Better Chicken Commitment supported by SPCA NZ, World Animal Protection, Compassion in World Farming and 12 other local and global organisations.
  • Nearly quadrupling our supporters to 4,352 (bring on 5,000!).
  • Launching our ranking report Delivering Better, that ranked food delivery brands on their progress towards changing the way chickens are farmed. 
  • Our petition to Nando’s and Pita Pit gaining 3,684 signatures and counting…
  • Putting up billboards calling out the shocking reality of free-range chicken farming in NZ. 

Check out all we have achieved:

One white-featherd chicken holding a yellow flower in her beak so her face is covered. Text reads “Three New Zealand companies signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment. 3684 signatures, and counting...on our petition to Nando's and Pita Pit. 79,482 views on our campaign videos. Five volunteer nights with eight fabulous volunteers.”
Chicken image credit Jinki Cambronero.
Image showing our billboard up in Auckland. Text reads “Four billboards put up showing the cruelty of free-range. We launched the Australia-New Zeland Better Chicken Commitment supported by SPCA NZ, World Animal Protection, Compassion in World Farming and 12 other local and international organisations.
We supported global cage-free campaigns that saw Toridoll go cage-free and three hotel chains renew their support for cage-free eggs.
We signed 13 submissions to improve fish welfare - including the New Zealand fisheries bill review. ”
Two white-feathered chickens reaching for a piece of watermelon. Text reads “500+ individual messages written to food delivery brands failing on chicken welfare. Four media stories about Animals Aotearoa and our work with food businesses. $7,954 Raised from 33 generous donors. The numbers. 215,495 people reached by online advertising.”
Two images showing Mona and Marianne at protests. Text reads “2022 Impact. The numbers. Our pledge to end chicken cruelty reached 2443 signatures. Up from 1232 last year. Over 4,000 supporters - more than four times last year’s number. 2,797 followers on Facebook, 1,362 followers on Instagram, 204 followers on LinkedIn.”

This is the start of even bigger things to come. We are creating a transformation of the chicken industry and the first steps are the hardest to achieve. Next year, we will be ramping up our campaign focussing on Nando’s and Pita Pit (plus some other campaigns I’ll be revealing to you in the coming months).

Bring on 2023!

Help us secure our future as a leading animal welfare charity in Aotearoa, by setting up a regular donation – every dollar really does count!

A white-feathered chicken standing on a striped towel on the grass with a pair of sunglasses on the towel. There is a wall and plant pots behind her.

2 thoughts on “What we’ve achieved for animals in 2022, with your help

    1. Many thanks Helen and VAWA! Here’s to a 2023 where we both make lots of progress for animals.

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