Hi all- I am a graduate student studying social policy and the human-animal bond. If you were not aware, Project 2025 is the blueprint for Trump’s second term in office. I have been combing through the foundational documents that provide context to what we can expect in January. Here is one topic that will be of interest to us in animal welfare.

The Administration will begin a planned extinction of wild horses and burros on federally-managed land.

TLDR: “Congress must enact laws permitting the BLM to dispose humanely of these animals.”

Wild Horses and Burros. In 1971, Congress ordered the BLM to manage wild horses and burros to ensure their iconic presence never disappeared from the western landscape. For decades, Congress watched as these herds overwhelmed the land's ability to sustain them, crowded out indigenous plant and other animal species, threatened the survival of species listed under the Endangered Species Act, invaded private and permitted public land, disturbed private property rights, and turned the sod into concrete. BLM experts said in 2019 that some affected land will never recover from this unmitigated damage.

There are 95,000 wild horses and burros roaming nearly 32 million acres in the West-triple what scientists and land management experts say the range can sup-port. These animals face starvation and death from lack of forage and water. The population has more than doubled in just the past 10 years and continues to grow at a rate of 10 to 15 percent annually. This number includes the more than 47,000 animals the BLM has already gathered from public lands, at a cost to the American taxpayer of nearly $50 million annually to care for them in off-range corrals.

This is not a new issue-it is not just a western issue-it is an American issue. What is happening to these once-proud beasts of burden is neither compassionate nor humane, and what these animals are doing to federal lands and fragile ecosystems is unacceptable. In 2019, the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the American Veterinary Medication Association-two of the largest organizations of professional veterinarians in the world— issued a joint policy calling for further reducing overpopulation to protect the health and well-being of wild horses and burros on public lands. The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, a panel of nine experts and professionals convened to advise the BLM, endorsed the joint policy. Furthermore, animal welfare organizations such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society of the United States recognize that the prosperity of wild horses and burros on public lands is threatened if herds continue to grow unabated.

The BLM's multi-pronged approach in its 2020 Report to Congresst included expanded adoptions and sales of horses gathered from overpopulated herds; increased gathers and increased capacity for off-range holding facilities and pas-tures; more effective use of fertility control efforts; and improved research, in concert with the academic and veterinary communities, to identify more effective contraceptive techniques and strategies. All of that will not be enough to solve the problem, however.

Congress must enact laws permitting the BLM to dispose humanely of these animals.

Page 527- 528 Department of the Interior Project 2025

Imagine scanning a barcode at your local store. Beep**. Just another product, right? Now imagine that same barcode dissolving away as animals break free. That's not just an image – it's a movement.**

The Stories That Change Hearts 🐾

From Laboratory to Love

https://preview.redd.it/zukldxhclxzd1.jpg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f326ed4a0380f94da1a43f24953c8129ece56d8

Meet Luna, a former laboratory beagle who'd never felt grass beneath her paws for the first 4 years of her life.

Luna's transformation reminds us that every animal has an incredible capacity for joy when given the chance.

Wild at Heart

In the mountains of Colorado, a remarkable story unfolds. Once a show horse confined to a tiny stall, Shadow now gallops freely across open plains. Today, he leads therapeutic riding sessions for children with disabilities.

What Rights Should Every Animal Have?

🌟 Freedom to Move & Play

• Every bird deserves to spread its wings
• Every dog deserves to run and play
• Every farm animal deserves space to roam
• Every wild animal deserves their natural habitat

🏠 Safe Haven & Protection

When we found Max, he was chained outside in freezing weather. People often ask why we care so much about animal rights. I show them the video of Max playing in the snow now – by choice, with a warm home waiting for him. That's the difference between being treated as property versus family.

❤️ Care & Compassion

At Green Valley Wildlife Center, each animal tells a story of resilience:

• A hawk, rehabilitated after a wing injury, soaring again
• A fox family, rescued from urban development, finds a new territory
• A deer fawn, orphaned by traffic, growing strong enough for release

Making a Difference: Your Role

Every purchase from our "Animals Are Not Products" collection:

• Donates 10% to animal sanctuaries
• Share a rescue story on social media
• Provides educational resources about animal rights

Remember Luna from the beginning? Last week, she helped welcome another laboratory rescue to the sanctuary. As we watched her show the newcomer how to play with toys for the first time, we were reminded: every animal has a story waiting to be told, and every one of us has the power to change that story.

Join us in breaking the barcode. Because animals aren't products – they're living beings deserving of love, respect, and freedom.

Thank you for Support 🛍️ Visit Store

#AnimalsAreNotProducts #AnimalRights #EthicalFashion #MakeADifference

I recently visited Chase Animal Sanctuary in Webster, FL. They house a wide variety of exotic animals. On my visit I was impressed by the standard of care for each animal, they looked to be of a healthy BCS, had a variety of enrichment, room to play, and over all were very active and curious. They claim their mission is to “Increase awareness and discourage the primate pet and breeding trades.”

However, I noticed a few things that ring alarm bells. First of all, there was a high volume of young animals, a lot of which were born at the sanctuary. Correct me if I’m wrong, (learning more about this is why I joined the subreddit) but I assumed sanctuaries don’t breed their animals. On their website it states that they do so to keep endangered species alive, however I don’t know the ethics of this? Some of the species, the lemurs in particular, are certain to disappear in the next century. What does it mean to keep the species alive in this way? Is there a way to do it ethically other than storming an impoverished country and forcing them to preserve their land?

Second of all, the animals were used in a variety of activities with the public. Things such as Lemur yoga, painting with sloths, and up-close tours. As someone who used to work in animal services, this made me incredibly nervous, seeing people place as much trust in them as they would their neighbor’s dog. It felt like a bite risk. It also felt a bit counter intuitive, that they were being so friendly with people while also telling the public that we shouldn’t own one.

I was also suspicious that maybe some of the animals were potentially purchased from the exotic pet trade, but I don’t know for certain, and wondered if anyone here would be willing to help me figure that out! There was no transparency on where the animals came from, I had asked a staff member if they knew, and they said they didn’t. But the recent edition of baby otters and baby genets seems so blatant to me

I was just scrolling through my reels and found this account named „hera_animalrescue“. This account does look really fake to me. In every reel they want people to donate for operations on cats but they live in turkey and they demand more money than for example the price for operations in Germany would cost like. This can’t be. Turkey is cheaper than Germany. Also, the first reel I saw from them was 10 weeks ago about Jack. They said people need to donate so they can afford to remove his cancer. If you go to their account and to the second pinned reel, there is also a cat named Jack, that looks exactly like the other Jack from 10 weeks ago but half of his head is gone. The problem is, Jack from the reel 10 weeks ago still has his whole head, just his eye is missing! So he got „operated“ 40 weeks ago (pinned reel) but they still upload old videos of him. What’s also making them suspect is, that they uploaded a reel where they SAW a cat that got hit by a motorcycle. Come on? Isn’t that coincidentally? Can someone check this account?

Hey Ya'll I recently read Consider the Turkey by Peter Singer and then looked online for templates or bullet-points I could use for an email but couldn't find one so I drafted one and thought I'd share in case anyone of my US peers wanted to use. Apologies for poor reddit formatting:

In anticipation of Thanksgiving I would like to ask that we reconsider having a turkey. I've been learning about the industry, and have come to a conclusion that it is not something I want to support. 

You can take my word for it, or if you'd like to learn more of the pretty gruesome details, see below. If you want to read more on this, I recommend ‘Consider the Turkey’ by Peter Singer, it’s a short book I just finished about this specific animal welfare. 

Considering these new to me facts, I wanted to see if you're ok skipping the turkey for our gathering. I realize I haven’t been the best practitioner of animal welfare by diet, but I’m pledging to do better. 

Thanks, let me know if you're open to considering deep frying another dish.

MORE INFO:

It’s an industrial process dispensing cruelty to birds on a massive scale: 46 million killed for Thanksgiving, 210 million per year in the US. There are few to zero animal welfare laws in the US easing suffering for these birds, since those would limit the production ($) for profit-driven Big Ag. 

Turkeys are intelligent, sentient individuals with personality that form social groups of ~20 naturally. 

They can live >10 years in the wild. Meat birds are killed at 3 to 4 months old. It’s a big longer for breeding birds. 

The process requires artificial insemination en masse, because the birds have been selectively bred and raised to such enormous size they cannot physically reproduce on their own – they are too large-breasted and legs too weak / short. This artificial insemination equates to repeated sexual assault of the birds – this isn’t hyperbole, they are handled fast and rough by workers to forcibly masturbate or inseminate the birds. One worker describes it as the “hardest, fastest, dirtiest, most disgusting, worst paid work I have ever done”, and the workers themselves experience immense pressure and verbal abuse. 

The animals ‘live’ in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, confined by thousands to bleak warehouses. They are painfully mutilated, their beaks severed, often toes severed, to deter damage to themselves and each other that terrified, crowded, stressed, aggravated and aggressive birds will do. Their feed and water lines are electrified to prevent roosting. Their air quality (from birth until death) is ammonia-filled and dust-laden. Their exaggerated anatomy and limited space leads to chronic pain (like arthritis, sores, etc.). They are prone to pecking, and cannibalism. In short, an entire existence of suffering.

From a worker: “Today I saw one of the ‘runts’. She was silently opening and shutting her mouth, looking like she was gasping for breath and shaking her head over and over again. She kept walking to the other birds and attempting to bury her head in their feathers. My heart broke watching her.” My heart broke reading that. 

They die just as brutal. Terrified birds are crated to slaughterhouse facilities. “At a plant that shackles and kills about 50,000 birds every day, the PETA investigator saw a worker trying to get a turkey out of a crate when its food was stuck in the crate’s wire. The worker simply ripped the turkey’s foot off its body.” An imperfect electro-bath system is supposed to stun the birds, who are then often consciously throat cut. 

If there’s disease found (like bird flu), the entire warehouse population is killed. In the US the cheapest way to do this is ‘ventilation shut down’ = the ventilation is closed, food and water removed, and the heat is brought to over 100F. The majority die of heatstroke and suffocation over three hours. Some very unlucky survivors are manually killed. This is done to millions of turkeys every year. It’s reported as ‘depopulation’ or ‘euthanizing’, but those are euphemisms for the cruel practice. 

And there are more humane methods, for ‘breeding’ and raising and killing turkeys, but the US doesn’t require them.

What can we do? Boycott Jennie-O, Butterball, Tyson, Purdue, etc. Don’t buy turkey. Support organizations working to support animal welfare. Vote for politicians working to abolish cruel practices. 

Hi! After this Tuesday in the us (and the banning factory farm bills that did not pass) I want to start giving my time and money to causes that improve animals lives and ultimate work towards ending factory farming an testing.

I've been a vegetarian for almost 2 years, I might transition to a vegan diet in the future, but I'm not there yet. Yet.

What I am looking for is

1. Does anyone have recs for the most effective animal rights organizations to give money to/volunteer with? Especially for changing the law
2. Any tips for getting more involved in animal rights without succumbing to despair? Because even looking through sites today, holy shit.
3. What do you guys do in your lives re animal rights?

Thanks to anyone who's willing to help me get started.

I saw this on Instagram. In the case no charges are brought against him, I think it's important to get this footage out there and his name so as many people possible will know what scum he is 🥰. It looks like he's located in Southern California.

***The video does show animal abuse so do not open if you don't want to see that

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCFGMDXvp64/?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==

My sister in law bought a puppy and keeps him in a very tiny cage just as big as him. My husband and I have been telling her it’s tortuous and he doesn’t need to be kept in a cage. But she keeps making excuses like he makes a mess, bites the wall, and ruins the furniture. Of course he behaves that way because she doesn’t take him a walk nor play with him. She keeps him in a tiny cage all day long.. we even told her to put him on adoption or give him to us, but she says she LOVES the dog!!! Ugh! What can we do about it? I’m so upset and sad. How can I help this poor puppy?