The Humane Slaughter Association (HSA) is another option that not many EAs seem interested in. HSA received two large grants from Open Philanthropy, in 2017 and 2019, but those were earmarked for specific projects, so general HSA funding may not be funged by them.
That is already a while ago. It might be worthwhile to check what they did after they received this grant and whether they have good follow-up work to do. Maybe they have room for more funding again, but Open Philanthropy downprioritized re-evaluating them? Or they aren’t as promising as Open Philanthropy thought in 2019.
I briefly looked at their 2022 Annual Report. They were still working on fish and invertebrates, or funding research by others.
Hey Brian, I think it’s too early to judge both of the HSA grants we funded because they’re for long research projects, which have also gotten delayed. We’d like to fund more similar work for HSA but there have been capacity constraints on both sides. We also tend to weigh prolonged chronic suffering more highly than shorter acute suffering, so slaughter isn’t as obvious a focus for us. So I think funding HSA or similar slaughter-focused groups is a good idea for EAs like you who prioritize acute suffering. On slaughter, you might like to also look into the Shrimp Welfare Project (OP-funded, but with RFMF).
Good to know! Are there any other slaughter-focused groups besides HSA? Maybe you mean groups for which one of their major priorities is slaughter, like Shrimp Welfare Project and various other charities working on chickens and fish?
I saw a 2021 Open Phil grant “to Animal Protection Denmark to support research on ways to improve the welfare of wild-caught fish.” But that organization itself does lots of stuff (including non-farm-animal work).
Off topic: There’s a line in the movie A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish that might be applicable to you: “was also credited with helping shift the Animal Rights movement to a more utilitarian focus including a focus on chicken.”
Off topic: There’s a line in the movie A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish that might be applicable to you: “was also credited with helping shift the Animal Rights movement to a more utilitarian focus including a focus on chicken.”
That is already a while ago. It might be worthwhile to check what they did after they received this grant and whether they have good follow-up work to do. Maybe they have room for more funding again, but Open Philanthropy downprioritized re-evaluating them? Or they aren’t as promising as Open Philanthropy thought in 2019.
I briefly looked at their 2022 Annual Report. They were still working on fish and invertebrates, or funding research by others.
Good points! I’d be curious to hear what Lewis thought of those two HSA grants and why Open Phil hasn’t done more since then.
Hey Brian, I think it’s too early to judge both of the HSA grants we funded because they’re for long research projects, which have also gotten delayed. We’d like to fund more similar work for HSA but there have been capacity constraints on both sides. We also tend to weigh prolonged chronic suffering more highly than shorter acute suffering, so slaughter isn’t as obvious a focus for us. So I think funding HSA or similar slaughter-focused groups is a good idea for EAs like you who prioritize acute suffering. On slaughter, you might like to also look into the Shrimp Welfare Project (OP-funded, but with RFMF).
Good to know! Are there any other slaughter-focused groups besides HSA? Maybe you mean groups for which one of their major priorities is slaughter, like Shrimp Welfare Project and various other charities working on chickens and fish?
I saw a 2021 Open Phil grant “to Animal Protection Denmark to support research on ways to improve the welfare of wild-caught fish.” But that organization itself does lots of stuff (including non-farm-animal work).
Off topic: There’s a line in the movie A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish that might be applicable to you: “was also credited with helping shift the Animal Rights movement to a more utilitarian focus including a focus on chicken.”
This is an amazing thing to learn.