From humble beginnings as a tiny grassroots organisation in the US in 2005, in 2016 we brought our campaigns to the UK. We began by persuading companies like Pizza Hut, Burger King, and Hilton to go cage-free, freeing millions of hens from cramped cages.
Read moreIn 2016, we created the Open Wing Alliance, a global coalition of organisations united in a common goal: to end the abuse of chickens worldwide. Together we share resources, train others, and amplify each others’ voices.
Read moreIn 2021 we launched our forgotten fishes campaign. Slaughtered in their trillions, legal protection for fishes is lacking compared to land animals. But they feel pain. They are sentient, and deserve the same considerations and protections as other animals.
Learn moreAnd we’ve come a long way since then...
As we've grown, we've found ways to stay nimble and collaborative
We’ve learnt how to win against multinational corporations and achieve real change for animals, becoming even more effective in what we do.
We’re on a journey to be a more inclusive and diverse organisation, confronting our own biases and growing our awareness of the challenges we face.
But one thing hasn’t changed. We have always been, and always will be for the animals.
So we pride ourselves on being effective. It’s the only way to tackle the immense scale of animal abuse in our food system. We focus on the animals suffering the worst treatment and in the greatest numbers. That’s why, alongside our cage-free work, we campaign for chickens raised for meat.
In 2017, The Humane League led a coalition of five leading organisations to create the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a set of six scientifically backed criteria to alleviate the worst forms of suffering on chicken farms.
Since then, we’ve been working relentlessly to persuade companies to sign up to the BCC. And it’s been working. Huge companies like KFC, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, and Accor Hotels are now committed to treating chickens better. Read about our campaign.
And it’s not just companies we’ve been campaigning against. Since 2022, we’ve been battling the Government in court to argue that fast-growing breeds of chicken are illegal.
We won't give up. Not until every one of the billion chickens raised in the UK for food is free from the abuse of factory farming.
