Amid the various claims re leadership gaps and animal welfare deficits, it may surprise many that animal protection has seen substantial increases in income over the past fifty years (since the first “animal liberation” article by Peter Singer in 1983. The report on the growth in animal philanthropy on the Animal Grantmakers website tracks some of the animal protection funding developments since the founding of the affinity group in 1999. However, it is not just funding that has grown. In 1980, there were no university-based animal protection programs. Today, there is an undergraduate degree in animal protection (Eastern Kentucky University) and several masters degree programs (Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy, Canisius College) and multiple animal protection centers at universities around the US (Tufts, UPenn, Canisius, UC Davis, Colorado State, Washington State, University of Tennessee, Arizona State and a number of others). Animal protection is thriving and students are flocking to animal advocacy courses across the USA. In my estimation, animal protection currently spends around $8 billion annually on various aspects of animal advocacy. The movement is not struggling. It is growing rapidly. The only question in my mind is how much further can the movement grow? In Colorado, animal advocacy organizations raise $18 per capita. At the low end, there are state animal advocacy movements that are raising “only” around $3 per capita. Animal advocacy income growth since the turn of the century has increased 3-4 fold in a number of states.
I have not looked at the issue but I suspect that many animal advocacy organizations offer multiple internships to students already. They could probably do more but the challenge is growing such opportunities, not creating a whole new structure.
1 - The animal movement has grown a lot, but that doesn’t mean it has grown enough. I think about this in the same way I think about efforts to eradicate extreme poverty: Such poverty has diminished significantly over the past few decades, but it still probably needs more (and cleverer) allocation of resources to truly be eradicated. Animal welfare, IMO, is in a much earlier stage still (but that’s not to say we haven’t made progress!).
2 - Various orgs do offer student internships (which is great), but I don’t think this is at all sufficient to build the much larger movement of active NGO staffers, donors, etc. that we need. As discussed above, I also think there aren’t enough in-person opportunities, and that that is a problem.
Amid the various claims re leadership gaps and animal welfare deficits, it may surprise many that animal protection has seen substantial increases in income over the past fifty years (since the first “animal liberation” article by Peter Singer in 1983. The report on the growth in animal philanthropy on the Animal Grantmakers website tracks some of the animal protection funding developments since the founding of the affinity group in 1999. However, it is not just funding that has grown. In 1980, there were no university-based animal protection programs. Today, there is an undergraduate degree in animal protection (Eastern Kentucky University) and several masters degree programs (Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy, Canisius College) and multiple animal protection centers at universities around the US (Tufts, UPenn, Canisius, UC Davis, Colorado State, Washington State, University of Tennessee, Arizona State and a number of others). Animal protection is thriving and students are flocking to animal advocacy courses across the USA. In my estimation, animal protection currently spends around $8 billion annually on various aspects of animal advocacy. The movement is not struggling. It is growing rapidly. The only question in my mind is how much further can the movement grow? In Colorado, animal advocacy organizations raise $18 per capita. At the low end, there are state animal advocacy movements that are raising “only” around $3 per capita. Animal advocacy income growth since the turn of the century has increased 3-4 fold in a number of states.
I have not looked at the issue but I suspect that many animal advocacy organizations offer multiple internships to students already. They could probably do more but the challenge is growing such opportunities, not creating a whole new structure.
Andrew Rowan
Thanks for your comment. A few points/pushback:
1 - The animal movement has grown a lot, but that doesn’t mean it has grown enough. I think about this in the same way I think about efforts to eradicate extreme poverty: Such poverty has diminished significantly over the past few decades, but it still probably needs more (and cleverer) allocation of resources to truly be eradicated. Animal welfare, IMO, is in a much earlier stage still (but that’s not to say we haven’t made progress!).
2 - Various orgs do offer student internships (which is great), but I don’t think this is at all sufficient to build the much larger movement of active NGO staffers, donors, etc. that we need. As discussed above, I also think there aren’t enough in-person opportunities, and that that is a problem.