December 17, 2024
In 2024, we advocated for non-human animals through exciting projects and strong partnerships.
In 2024, we advocated for non-human animals through exciting projects and strong partnerships.
2024 was an exciting year for us – from inspiring collaborations and fascinating projects to intense challenges that helped us grow as an organization and as a team.
We explored our limits, built new connections, and worked with long-standing partners on important issues. Despite some obstacles, we achieved a lot and look back on the past year with pride.
In this blog article, we want to share our highlights, shed light on key milestones in our organizational development, and provide a glimpse of our goals for 2025. We hope you enjoy reading, and we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has accompanied us on this journey!
Once again, this year we were able to implement numerous projects with organizations we have closely collaborated with since the beginning. These include the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, Anmal Rights Watch (ARIWA), and Uncover. We are proud to have been working with these organizations for many years.
Through our collaboration with the Association against Animal Factories (VGT), we expanded our efforts to Austria. We supported the organization with two statements. In one statement, we shed light on the effects of new legal requirements for pig fattening in relation to pigs. The second opinion takes a closer look at the lying area for pigs. Another joint project will be published next year.
Photographer Timo Stammberger highlights the complex relationship between humans and other animals through his work. We provided him with expert knowledge for his photo series on tools used in the animal industry.
This year, we had the opportunity to support a sanctuary. Vegan Bullerbyn faced challenges with a veterinary office that wanted to separate wild boar Gezi, who had lived with "domestic pigs" since she was a piglet. We delved into the scientific literature to explore the similarities in social behavior between wild and domestic pigs and summarized the findings in a literature review.
The photojournalism organization We Animals sheds light on our complex relationship with non-human animals through its images and videos. In December, we conducted a small investigation for them and created a joint Instagram collaboration.
We also received numerous requests this year for small-scale research and fact-checks. We’re thrilled about such inquiries, as they allow us to support others with our expertise. The growing number of these requests shows us that our organization is becoming increasingly established, gaining recognition and relevance. This validates that we are on the right track.
There are projects we cannot disclose (yet). In general, we work on far more assignments than we publicly communicate. This is partly because many projects aren’t yet published by our clients and partly because certain collaborations must remain confidential due to contractual or strategic reasons.
We respect and protect the wishes of our clients and honor these agreements. Some collaborations will therefore remain behind the scenes for a long time, if not permanently. However, other projects will be published next year – stay tuned!
To give a clearer picture of the specific services we offer, we have added a new section to our website. Under "Resources" you can now find published formats such as literature reviews, position papers, and our white paper.
2024 was not only a significant year for us in terms of content but also a year in which we grew closer as a team. After our first full year with a four-person team, we can confidently say: the staffing decision was spot on!
Over the past year, we have navigated several highs and lows together and have become a truly strong team. Despite the geographical distance of several hundred kilometers between us, we have created structures over the years that ensure close communication and collaboration in our daily work. Communication and mutual support are deeply rooted values in our work culture, carrying us through every challenge.
As well as our virtual collaboration works, nothing replaces in-person encounters. That’s why we organized a work retreat in Berlin, Germany, in mid-December. It was the first time we met all four of us in real life. We exchanged ideas intensively and made plans for Expertise for Animals. This face-to-face contact brought us closer as a team and gave us momentum for the tasks ahead.
This year, we attended numerous conferences and events. In April, we supported the cause of keeping Berlin’s Animal Welfare Officer as an independent advisory office.
In the fall, our co-founder Marietheres Reinke participated in "The Elevator Pitch Contest" at the CARE Conference and won second place. A big thank you to everyone who voted for us!
We deeply value the annual CARE Conference, which provides activists and organizations with a unique platform to exchange ideas on methods, campaigns, strategic approaches, and effective public relations – and to learn from one another.
To continuously expand our knowledge, we participated in veterinary conferences and training sessions both in-person and online this year.
Among other events, we attended the veterinary symposium on animal welfare hosted by the German Veterinary Society and a training session on selective overbreeding organized by Baden-Württemberg’s Animal Welfare Office. Additional training included topics on pig and cattle farming as well as animal welfare in agricultural settings. We also focused on best practices for writing veterinary reports.
The expertise gained from these events directly informs our work.
One of the biggest challenges we faced in 2024 was our financial situation. In the fall, we came close to being unable to continue our organization. Thanks to a generous donation, however, we’re ending the year on a positive note.
This experience highlighted once again how crucial sustainable and reliable funding is. Our pro bono work and the administrative tasks necessary to run an organization like ours require resources. We are working hard to establish long-term funding structures to secure our work and support even more projects.
At the same time, every single donation remains essential. Every contribution – whether financial or by sharing our work – helps keep our organization running. Together, we can achieve even more for non-human animals.
2024 also pushed us to our limits. With our limited resources, we couldn’t realize all the projects we wanted to. Regrettably, we had to cancel or postpone some initiatives until next year. While these moments are difficult, they have motivated us to plan our work even more strategically and sustainably in the future.
These moments also remind us how much our work is needed and how the demand exceeds our available resources. At the same time, they demonstrate that we are trusted within the animal movements and seen as reliable partners.
For 2025, we have set ambitious goals. A central focus will be to stabilize our funding. We are working to establish long-term funding structures to not only secure our existing work but also support more projects.
Our mission remains clear: we aim to strengthen the animal movement further and help drive systemic change. In this effort, we rely on your support. Together, we can empower even more organizations dedicated to non-human animals.
With your help, we can bring the latest research from the animal welfare sciences to the animal movements. Do you like our unique approach? Find out more here and help us with a donation.
