Higher for Animals: The Proof Behind Protests

December 1, 2025

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22 minute learn

Animal Charity Evaluators’ Higher for Animals: Proof-Based mostly Insights for Efficient Animal Advocacy useful resource is an ongoing venture through which we distill key analysis on completely different animal advocacy interventions to assist us consider their impression in several contexts. We’ve got made this analysis publicly out there to assist knowledgeable choice making about tips on how to assist probably the most animals. Chances are you’ll learn extra concerning the methodology in our current announcement.

This can be a dwelling doc and we wish to make it as useful, accessible, and updated as attainable, so please be at liberty to attain out with suggestions! To maintain updated with ACE’s analysis and the work of the superb organizations that we assist, you should definitely join our mailing record.

To assist make this info extra accessible to a variety of audiences, we’re spotlighting one intervention every month by means of a collection of social media and weblog posts spotlighting one intervention every month. This month—for the third version—we’re specializing in the proof round protests.

Intervention Highlight #3: Protests

What is that this intervention?

This class refers to protests or demonstrations to assist an animal advocacy initiative. Techniques embody organizing or collaborating in protests, demonstrations, or marches to lift consciousness about animal welfare points and advocate for change; partaking in nonviolent direct motion campaigns comparable to sit-ins, blockades, or banner drops; and creating inventive and attention-grabbing stunts or performances.
Advocates use protests, usually at the side of different ways, to affect public opinion on animals, animal exploitation, and the animal advocacy motion; obtain company and coverage change; enhance the quantity of public discourse and media consideration on animal welfare points; and enhance the capability of the animal advocacy motion by means of growing sources for animal advocacy teams (e.g., by means of donations, sign-ups, and activist mobilization).

What’s our general evaluation of this intervention? How assured are we on this evaluation?

By way of influencing public opinion, analysis on the effectiveness of animal advocacy protests reveals combined outcomes, usually with unfavourable short-term impacts. Case research recommend that consciousness of protests can initially result in extra unfavourable attitudes towards animals (the measured attitudes included attitudes towards animals, assist for altering how we deal with animals in society, and willingness to do one thing about it). The extent of unfavourable attitudes could range primarily based on how radical the actions are¹. Whereas nonviolent ways are typically related to higher success than violent ways, proof evaluating radical nonviolent and average nonviolent approaches stays inconclusive. Nonetheless, one case research means that these preliminary unfavourable results could fade over time.² Months after protests, public attitudes towards animals can enhance, alongside will increase in media protection, donations, and sign-ups to Animal Rising, the group behind the protests studied.
By way of reaching company and coverage change, protests seem to have been a part of many profitable campaigns for particular welfare or coverage modifications, such because the cage-free commitments secured by The Humane League and others, and nationwide bans on fur farming within the European Union. The 12 months after Animal Rising disrupted the Grand Nationwide horse race, quite a lot of guidelines modifications had been launched by the organizers to guard the welfare of the horses.³

By way of growing media consideration and public discourse, protests seem efficient at elevating the profile of animal points. Analysis signifies that particularly disruptive or seemingly illogical actions can generate vital media protection, thereby growing the salience of the subject in public dialog. As an illustration, following the Grand Nationwide disruption, there was a pointy enhance in media consideration, in addition to direct donations and sign-ups for the organizing group. This implies that protests can efficiently mobilize sources and set the agenda, even when the speedy media framing is unfavourable.
Evaluating the impression of protests is difficult for a number of causes. First, protests are hardly ever utilized in isolation; as a substitute, they’re usually built-in into broader campaigns to immediately or not directly advance outcomes for animals. We discovered no empirical analysis explicitly testing the added effectiveness of protests when mixed with different ways.
- Nonetheless, there are compelling precedents the place protests seem to have served as an necessary lever of strain to safe company or coverage commitments, such because the Open Wing Alliance’s international cage-free victories. However, it stays troublesome to isolate the precise contribution of demonstrations relative to different marketing campaign actions.
- Protests can even theoretically assist a “radical flank” technique, the place disruptive actions by one faction make the calls for of average teams seem extra affordable. Nonetheless, the proof for that is combined: Whereas some research recommend a optimistic distinction impact that enhances assist for moderates, others point out that perceived extremism can generate backlash or repression that hinders the motion as an entire.
Second, evaluating the success of a protest relies upon closely on the underlying principle of change. Protests can pursue distinct strategic mechanisms, and information that seems unfavourable by means of one lens (e.g., elevated public annoyance) could also be seen as a hit by means of one other (e.g., elevated concern salience or imposed prices on a goal). Due to this fact, we’re unable to provide you with a blanket verdict on protests. The proof suggests their effectiveness is very variable and relies upon closely on the precise consequence focused—and, crucially, whether or not that consequence in the end interprets into tangible advantages for animals.
- On coverage and company change: Case historical past means that protests present promise as efficient levers for strain. Nonetheless, we lack strong empirical information isolating their impression from different ways, and literature opinions recommend combined or restricted effectiveness, so there’s general inadequate proof that protests can reliably assist safe legislative or company wins.
- On capability constructing and media: Protests present some promise in efficiently producing public discourse and media salience, and mobilizing present supporters, even when broader public sentiment is unfavourable.
- On public opinion: Protests appear much less promising right here. Proof reveals that disruptive protests may cause speedy unfavourable shifts in public attitudes towards animals and the motion. Whereas these results could also be short-term, we have now inadequate proof to conclude that protests reliably drive optimistic long-term shifts on the whole public opinion.
We additionally assume that because of the shortage of rigorous, long-term proof supporting their effectiveness, obvious conflicting results, and the potential dangers of backlash, protests require rigorous strategic planning: Distinct targets should be outlined, dangers to the broader motion assessed, and ways rigorously calibrated to the precise context. Under are a number of the contextual elements that will make protests kind of prone to succeed.
By way of public attitudes and public and coverage backlash, we predict there’s robust proof that protests have higher outcomes and are much less dangerous when utilizing nonviolent ways. Nonviolent protests are persistently linked to higher success, throughout social actions, than violent ways.⁴
Our confidence on this evaluation is low to average, because of the reliance on case research and lack of systematic opinions, experimental research, and long-term observational analysis. The lack of generalizability throughout international locations and completely different actions and the sometimes-conflicting proof additional add to our uncertainty. This implies our hesitancy about protests shouldn’t be interpreted as proof of ineffectiveness. Reasonably, it displays an absence of sturdy information and the problem of isolating the precise impression of protests.

Given the obvious success of protests as a part of historic campaigns, and the dearth of sturdy information, we predict extra analysis could be extremely priceless. Priorities for additional analysis embody:
- Impacts of protests outdoors the International North (e.g., United States, United Kingdom, E.U.).
- Lengthy-term results on public opinion, public discourse, coverage, and different outcomes.
- The circumstances that make protests kind of efficient, relying on the meant consequence of the protest.
- The (counterfactual) effectiveness of protests when mixed with different advocacy ways.
- The distinctive function of animal advocacy protests in comparison with different causes, provided that the affected group (animals) can’t take part, and the importance this may occasionally have for protest outcomes.

What does the analysis say about how efficient this intervention is?

Quick-term impacts

A lot of the out there literature focuses on the short-term impression of protests on public opinion. Research have a tendency to point out both combined or unfavourable short-term results of protests on public opinion, with some extra optimistic results for local weather protests.

A research by the Social Change Lab⁵ evaluated the impression of the 2023 Grand Nationwide horse race disruption by Animal Rising. Instantly after the protest, respondents’ consciousness of the protest was linked with extra unfavourable attitudes towards animals examined by means of questions across the therapy and welfare of animals.
A web based experiment⁶ with British members measured the responses to a few completely different marketing campaign sorts (horse race disruptions, open rescues of sheep, KFC drive-through blockades). The researchers additionally introduced three completely different messaging sorts: values/norms-led messages, which enchantment to folks’s love for animals and their want to do the morally proper factor; problem-led messages, which emphasize the harms of animal exploitation to each animals and the atmosphere; and solution-led messages, which current a plant-based system as the answer. Total, most mixtures negatively affected members’ attitudes towards animals, their assist for pro-animal insurance policies, and their willingness to take motion for animal rights, with probably the most unfavourable results for the KFC drive-through blockade and least unfavourable results for the horse racing disruption.
An experimental research⁷ within the U.Okay. and Australia discovered that studying a few vegan protest, no matter its disruptiveness, led to worse attitudes towards vegans, and higher protection of meat consumption than studying a few management protest.
A longitudinal research⁸ on opinion modifications in a nationally-representative pattern (n = 832) across the actions of Extinction Rebel within the U.Okay., at the side of experimental evaluation of the causal results of media reviews (n = 1,441), confirmed nationwide will increase in environmental concern. Activist media elevated dissatisfaction with present authorities motion, however didn’t result in main progress in collective mobilization or improved environmental coverage.
A U.S.-based research together with three experiments⁹ (animal rights, Black Lives Matter, and anti-Trump protests) discovered that whereas disruptive ways comparable to blocking site visitors or damaging property had been profitable at elevating public consciousness, additionally they decreased fashionable assist for the trigger. Notably, activists reported utilizing these ways exactly as a result of they believed they’d construct public assist. This implies that activists might not be conscious of the trade-off of maximum protest ways.
A survey¹⁰ of 120 social change consultants discovered that 69% thought that disruptive ways had been efficient for points with excessive public assist, 30% thought they had been efficient for points with low public assist, and 90% thought that nonviolent local weather disaster protests focusing on the federal government are a minimum of considerably efficient general.

Analysis is extra restricted on the subject of the results of protests on reaching coverage wins, influencing company habits, or influencing public discourse, however there are some case research and literature opinions specializing in the impacts of particular animal advocacy and local weather disaster protests, largely within the U.S., U.Okay., and different International North international locations.

One case research examined the well-known case Cease Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) protests within the U.Okay. within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s.¹¹ SHAC was in the end unsuccessful of their intention to close down Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a analysis facility accused of animal rights violations. Nonetheless, that they had some early successes in getting different organizations to terminate their affiliation with HLS. Probably on account of HLS transferring their monetary middle to the U.S., the marketing campaign confronted a robust authorities response; many SHAC activists had been prosecuted and new anti-activist insurance policies had been handed. This highlights the chance that authorities crackdowns on protests can have a chilling impact on advocacy. SHAC used numerous ways, together with violent ways like firebombing workers’ vehicles. Their exercise obtained a robust unfavourable media response. Alternatively, the violent ways appeared profitable in scaring folks and organizations away from associating with HLS.

A 2022 literature evaluate¹² highlights a number of the optimistic results of protests within the U.S. and Western Europe. The evaluate checked out case research from the civil rights, local weather change, and animal advocacy actions and located robust proof for vital short-term impacts on public opinion, voting, and public discourse. Medium proof was discovered for vital impacts on election voting outcomes (1–6%), positively influencing public opinion (<10%), and influencing public discourse when it comes to concern salience and media narrative. The researchers discovered low proof for influencing coverage or policymaker beliefs, and unclear-but-potentially-positive long-term impacts on public opinion and voting habits.

One other evaluate by the Social Change Lab¹³ appeared on the impression that protests have on three completely different outcomes: public opinion, coverage, and public discourse. The evaluate discovered with excessive confidence (60–80%) that protests can result in a small optimistic change in public opinion (2–5%), with medium confidence (40–60%) that they’ll result in a small internet optimistic change in coverage, and with excessive confidence (60–80%) that protests can result in a medium internet optimistic change in public discourse. The researchers additionally appeared on the variance amongst protest actions and located with excessive confidence (60–80%) that there’s a giant variance (over 10x) within the effectiveness of protests throughout completely different social actions and trigger areas. Whereas the policymakers interviewed on this report reported believing that the majority protests have little impression, additionally they believed that Extinction Rebel protests within the local weather change motion and anti-live export protests within the animal advocacy motion had direct impacts on the U.Okay.’s authorized dedication to succeed in net-zero greenhouse fuel emissions by 2050 and live-export ban insurance policies, respectively.
A 2025 research carried out by the Social Change Lab within the U.Okay., Sweden, and Germany over a two-year interval discovered that in all three international locations, local weather protests had a modest however measurable optimistic impact on voting intention for inexperienced and extra environmentally-conscious events.¹⁴ Particularly, protests had been related to a rise of lower than 1% in intention to vote for a pro-climate get together in every nation (between 0.19 and 0.79 share factors). Nonetheless, this dynamic may not translate to animal advocacy, as animal welfare is never a main coverage distinction between main events or a decisive driver of voting intention.

Lengthy-term impacts

The Social Change Lab evaluate¹⁵ reveals that six months after Animal Rising’s Grand Nationwide protest, respondents’ consciousness of the protest was now not linked to their attitudes towards animals. On this case it seems that the speedy unfavourable results on public opinion didn’t final. Throughout that point, there additionally was a sharp enhance in media and public consideration, direct donations, and sign-ups, and a easy cross-sectional earlier than/after evaluation indicated that attitudes towards animals have improved within the U.Okay. over these six months (though we can’t causally hyperlink these shifts to the precise protest).

Value effectiveness

We had been unable to seek out estimates of the associated fee effectiveness of vegan and animal rights protests. Nonetheless, analyses of local weather disaster protests recommend that, if taken at face worth, protests have the potential to be aggressive with different highly-effective motion ways.

Social Change Lab carried out a cost-effectiveness evaluation (CEA)¹⁶ of Extinction Rebel’s (XR) impression on lowering greenhouse fuel emissions and influencing local weather coverage, and estimated that their protests had been on common seven instances simpler than the simplest local weather charity within the EA motion (Clear Air Activity Drive) on the time (2021). The CEA checked out modifications in native authorities’ insurance policies on transferring local weather targets to an earlier date, setting a extra formidable nationwide coverage, setting the targets earlier, and growing authorities spending. A part of this impression is speculatively estimated to be attributable to XR’s work. In line with this estimate, XR may have saved between 1.2–20 metric tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equal)per £ by means of altering net-zero targets, and £77 (8–387) in authorities funding redirected to local weather change per £ spent.
One other Social Change Lab CEA¹⁷ on the impacts of Insulate Britain estimates that 0.25 and 1.26 tonnes of CO2 had been saved per £, placing their value effectiveness on a par with that of Clear Air Activity Drive, evaluated as being the simplest local weather charity, in a position to scale back between 0.31 and three.88 tonnes of CO2/£.¹⁸

Power of proof

Researching protests comes with inherent methodological limitations which might be much less prevalent in another animal advocacy interventions. Not like individual-level interventions (comparable to food plan change research) the place randomized managed trials can isolate variables, or company outreach, the place particular “wins” might be tracked in opposition to particular calls for, protests often function in a loud, uncontrolled atmosphere.

We regularly need to depend on case research, which are likely to concentrate on notably noteworthy, giant, or profitable circumstances, and certain don’t symbolize the typical protest. It’s also hardly ever attainable to isolate the precise impression of the protest from the broader political context or different marketing campaign efforts.
There are additionally difficulties in measuring the outcomes of protests. Success in social actions is usually diffuse: altering a “cultural vibe,” shifting the Overton window, or inspiring a future technology of activists, that are difficult to quantify.
Most research don’t embody a longer analysis interval to find out the period of the results of the protests. This limits the generalizability of the results. Aside from the literature evaluate¹⁹ by Ozden and Glover, most research don’t measure long-term results of protests on public opinion or coverage.
Analysis into protests outdoors of the U.S. and Western Europe could be very restricted, and because of the giant variations in cultures and political methods, it’s difficult to generalize findings to different international locations. For instance, protests outdoors of liberal democracies are additionally prone to include higher dangers to activists and extra instruments for suppression.
The place experimental research do exist, they have a tendency to measure angle modifications in response to details about a protest in laboratory circumstances, which could not be capable to replicate the emotional responses to the disruption of real-world protests. Observational research embody many confounding elements which make it troublesome to find out causality.

How do protests assist different interventions?

In lots of circumstances, protests assist the precise asks of different interventions, comparable to company or authorities outreach, quite than being a standalone intervention. Whereas strong empirical proof for the effectiveness of protests as a part of a broader technique is missing, there are non-peer reviewed case research with examples of optimistic outcomes for company campaigns.

A Coefficient Giving (previously Open Philanthropy) report²⁰ describes how the protests organized by the Open Wing Alliance (OWA) helped thousands and thousands of chickens out of cages. The Humane League engages the OWA as a “dangerous cop”, as soon as it’s clear {that a} retailer won’t enhance their welfare requirements by means of optimistic engagement. They threaten to launch a marketing campaign with many on-the-ground protests to tell the general public concerning the low-welfare requirements and thus strain the retailer. The OWA has over 100 member organizations that may be mobilized for any such strain marketing campaign. In the perfect case situation, the retailer agrees to a dedication earlier than a marketing campaign is launched simply after a dialogue with THL or OWA. There have been main wins in lots of international locations, together with non-Western international locations like Türkiye.
Of their weblog submit titled, “The second we knew cages had been over,”²¹ The Humane League U.Okay. describes their journey to reaching an 80% cage-free egg market within the U.Okay., a rise from the previous 50%. After launching in 2016, they first centered on securing model commitments, and after quite a lot of successes they pivoted to retailers and secured a dedication from Noble Meals, the U.Okay.’s largest egg producer, in 2018. These campaigns apply strain by means of numerous means—protests, negotiation, petitions, leafleting, alliance constructing, social media and different media strain. The complete success can’t be attributed to the protests, however they do appear to play a serious function within the company marketing campaign technique.

In October 2024, Romanian lawmakers voted to ban fur farming from 2027, changing into the twenty second E.U. nation to take action.²² The win got here after campaigns and undercover investigations from animal activists. Humane Society Worldwide/Europe lobbied the Nationwide Liberal Occasion who then submitted a invoice to Parliament to ban fur farming, along with HSI’s submission of investigation proof to the Prime Minister with a proper request for the federal government to introduce a nationwide fur farming ban, which was profitable. Nonetheless, the fur trade has been declining for a very long time, with COVID-19 accelerating its drop after the virus was discovered on mink farms. In comparison with animal agriculture, the counter foyer is probably going smaller and the marketing campaign successes come at some extent the place the numbers of animals farmed for fur are decrease than ever, so the generalizability of those wins may not lengthen to animals farmed for meals.

Underneath what circumstances is that this intervention kind of efficient?

The literature general means that nonviolent ways are related to extra profitable protest outcomes than violent ways.²³ Weaker proof additionally means that having a nonviolent however radical flank within the motion could result in extra impression for the motion general than not having a extra radical flank, or having a violent radical flank.²⁴ Nonetheless, this analysis was largely from social actions outdoors of the animal advocacy house.

Current radical flank analysis from local weather protests reveals that its results might be optimistic or unfavourable. Excessive actions by fringe teams inside a motion can provoke public backlash, discrediting the broader trigger and offering justification for the repression of even average types of dissent.²⁵ Conversely, within the evaluation of the Insulate Britain marketing campaign,²⁶ a number of stakeholders engaged on insulation famous that their work benefited from the heightened public consideration on the problem triggered by Insulate Britain’s disruptive ways. The Social Change Lab’s polling on the disruptive local weather group Simply Cease Oil discovered their protests had been related to enhanced public assist for Mates of the Earth, a average local weather group.²⁷ A number of different research present a optimistic radical flank impact, resulting in extra public assist for extra average teams inside the identical motion.²⁸^,²⁹ A 2025 research means that optimistic radical flank results are extra doubtless when the average group is seen as markedly distinct from the novel group,³⁰ indicating that moderates could profit from explicitly distancing themselves from extra radical teams to current themselves as a extra palatable various. It’s not clear to which extent the findings from local weather change protests might be utilized to animal advocacy protests, on which the analysis remains to be missing.
Most case research centered particularly on protests by animal activists discovered that nonviolent excessive actions (open rescue, blockades, disruptions) had a unfavourable impact on attitudes towards animals and the motion.³¹ In a single case,³² extra average ways by animal activists (marching) led to increased willingness to assist the motion in comparison with excessive ways (open rescue). Whether or not nonviolent ways are simpler if they’re radical vs extra average is at present not clear. A extra vital limitation is that the majority research solely measure the speedy change in attitudes, and there’s restricted proof for a way lengthy these probably unfavourable results final.³³

Different elements that had been discovered to be linked to profitable protests had been giant numbers of protesters and exterior context (having luck and having political allies).³⁴ To a lesser extent, there’s some proof for the novel flank impact, range inside the motion, and intra-organizational elements like expertise of organizers and tradition.
In line with a The Social Change lab research,³⁵ there’s a optimistic correlation between how “illogical” a protest motion is and the rise in donations that follows the protest. That is doubtless on account of a better media protection of extra illogical protest actions. An instance of a protest motion that’s perceived as logical is protesting in entrance of an oil firm’s headquarters, whereas throwing soup at a portray is perceived as illogical. The animal advocacy motion is funding constrained, fundraising is a excessive precedence.

There are probably excessive dangers related to this intervention due. A number of case research present unfavourable speedy results on public attitudes proven.³⁶ There’s additionally a danger of authority backlash, comparable to harsher anti-protest legal guidelines that would stifle future advocacy efforts.

Our priorities for enhancing this proof evaluate

For future editions, we’d wish to floor this proof evaluate extra explicitly within the completely different theories of change protests might be part of.³⁷ This includes extra persistently organizing the evaluate by consequence, and articulating and inspecting the causal pathways between these “early” outcomes usually measured in analysis—comparable to media protection, public opinion, or fundraising—and precise outcomes for animals.
We wish to combine extra insights from broader social motion principle to complement the restricted direct proof. This additionally includes reviewing extra analysis on different actions (e.g., civil rights) and assessing how transferable key mechanisms could also be to the distinctive context of animal advocacy.
We may increase our seek for proof past educational databases, e.g., by conducting interviews with organizers and strategists at animal advocacy teams.

Final up to date November 20, 2025

We wish to thank Sam Nadel for his useful suggestions as peer reviewer.

Ostarek et al. (2024b)

Higher for Animals: The Proof Behind Protests

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What is that this intervention?

What’s our general evaluation of this intervention? How assured are we on this evaluation?