A chicken caged in a factory farm, looking at the camera.

Investigations and Research

We conduct investigations, research, and corporate rankings to support individuals, companies, and governments in making transformational changes to protect animals from exploitation.

Featured Reports

The Ground Beneath Joyce: What Science Reveals About Her Captivity at Six Flags

2025

We partnered with Terrapin Sensing and the University of Maryland Department of Geology to measure the intensity and sources of ground shaking around Joyce the elephant's enclosure.

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An elephant at Amer Fort with tourists on their back

Making Misery

2024

An exposé detailing some of the worst animal venues that GetYourGuide sells to.

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Moving the Menu

2024

Ranking the top restaurant chains on plant-based offerings and meat reduction policies.

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Bred for Profit

2024

Exploring the truth about global wildlife farming.

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Field Work

On-the-ground documentation of exploitation and damage caused by specific industries or companies.

Making Misery: How GetYourGuide Profits From Animal Cruelty (2024): An exposé detailing some of the worst animal venues that GetYourGuide sells to.
Waves of Profit (2024): Learn how the tourism industry profits from dolphin hunting in Taiji, Japan.
Bred for Profit (2024): Exploring the truth about global wildlife farming.
Paradise Lost (2023): Behind the horrors of wildlife tourism in Bali.
Profiting From Cruelty and Killing Our Planet (2023): An investigation with Reporter Brasil into environmental and human rights abuses connected to meat giant JBS.
Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (2021): Documenting the presence of superbug genes in the streams and soils near factory pig farms in the US.
US Pork and Superbug Crisis (2020): Demonstrating the presence of multi-drug resistant bacteria on pork products purchased from two major US grocery chains.

Scorecards

Ranking companies and governments on their commitment to advancing the protection of animals.

Moving the Menu (2024): Ranking the top restaurant chains on plant-based offerings and reduction policies.
Tracking the Travel Industry (2023): Which travel companies are fueling wildlife exploitation?
Moving the Menu (2022): Ranking the top restaurant chains on plant-based offerings and reduction policies.
Quit Stalling (2021): Ranking companies on how they’re keeping, or not keeping, promises to protect mother pigs from suffering.
Animal Protection Index (2020): Our Animal Protection Index ranks countries based on their laws protecting animals and exposes the drastic need for change in the United States.
The Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare (2020): The leading global measure on whether companies are protecting farmed animals.

Business Cases

Providing the economic benefits that can be realized by protecting animals and investing in sustainable solutions.

The Business Case for Protein Diversification (2021): An updated overview of the economic benefits of restaurants adding plant-based items to their menus.
The Business Case for Protein Diversification (2020): Highlighting the economic benefits of restaurants adding plant-based items to their menus.

Thought Leadership

Setting the goals and priorities for global systems transformation.

Devastating Deals (2022): How Groupon rakes in profits from wild animal exploitation.
Climate Change and Cruelty (2022): Revealing the true climate impacts of factory farming pigs and chickens.
The Hidden Health Impacts of Industrial Livestock Systems (2022): Showcasing how transforming the food system is necessary for protecting human, animal, and planetary health.
Collateral Damage (2022): How factory farming drives up the use of toxic agricultural pesticides.
A Close Up on Cruelty (2021): The harmful impact of wildlife selfies in the Amazon.
Suffering in Silence (2020): Highlighting the cruelty of the global trade in Ball pythons.

Scientific Research

Providing robust evidence for protecting animals from exploitation, shifting to a plant-rich food system, and keeping wild animals in the wild.

The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity (2023): Reviewing current knowledge of how marine mammals suffer in captivity.
Global Public Health Cost of Antimicrobial Resistance Related to Antibiotic Use on Factory Farms (2023): Surveying the widespread ramifications of antibiotic use on factory farms.
Cruel Cures (2020): The industry behind bear bile production and how to end it.