Animal Rising

Animal Rising
FormationJune 2019; 5 years ago (2019-06)
Founded atLondon
PurposeAnimal rights, plant-based food system
HeadquartersLondon
Volunteers
100 organisers
Websitewww.animalrising.org
Animal Rebellion sticker referencing zoonotic disease, Ireland.

Animal Rising (formerly Animal Rebellion) is a British animal activist movement with the stated aim of compelling social change towards animal rights and a plant-based food system.[1] They justify their actions with the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown.

Animal Rising use civil disobedience methods that have frequently resulted in its members being arrested. Their methods include graffiti, destruction of property, blockading and preventing food distribution, trespassing onto livestock industry premises, and blockading streets. The movement states on its website that it is nonviolent and focuses its actions on systems, not individuals.[2]

The targets of their actions have included dairy and other livestock companies, horse racing courses, the British royal family, government offices, supermarkets, and restaurants.

The organisation was founded in June 2019 as Animal Rebellion, as a sister organisation to Extinction Rebellion, an emerging and headline-making movement at the time. It had 12 founding members, including Daniel Kidby, Dora Hargitai, and Alex Lockwood, and by autumn 2019 grew to a size of 100 organisers.[3][4]

In April 2023, Animal Rebellion changed its name to Animal Rising to take a "firm" step away from the Extinction Rebellion movement and prioritize animal rights issues.[5][6] Animal Rising pledged to "take direct action to see an end to animal suffering in all its forms".[7]

  1. ^ "Our History". animalrising.org. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Strategy – Animal Rebellion". 31 January 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. ^ Partos, Hannah (15 September 2019). "How Sunday lunch at nan's led to a vegan's battle against the climate crisis". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Alex Lockwood". University of Sunderland. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Grand National 2023: Hundreds of animal activists to disrupt race at Aintree". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Animal Rebellion Moves Away From Extinction Rebellion With New Rebrand". plantbasednews.org. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  7. ^ "More than 100 animal rights activists arrested after Grand National protests". theguardian.com. Retrieved 16 April 2023.