Location UK and USA Founded 1 December 2014 | Origins United Kingdom Origin United Kingdom | |
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Focus Vivisection, Animal Rights, Speciesism Method Advocacy, media, research, outreach, investigations Website animaljusticeproject.com Similar American Anti‑Vivisection Society, Humane Society International, Farm Sanctuary, The Gentle Barn, In Defense of Animals | ||
Animal Justice Project is an international pressure group that campaigns against vivisection and other animal industries based on what the group identifies as speciesism. The organisation was launched on 1 December 2014 by a group of campaigners, researchers and activists from the UK and Europe, with backgrounds in grassroots activism and professional animal rights. The organisation is currently active in both the UK and United States and works primarily for the abolition of the exploitation of animals in laboratories and farms, for breeding, research and education.
Contents
The mission of Animal Justice Project is to raise awareness of the plight of non-human animals through advocacy, the media, education, protest and research. The organisation promotes political anti-speciesism and is against any form of discrimination based on species, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, stating that it "does not welcome any group or individual that supports any form of discrimination or oppression be it against humans or non human animals".
Animal Justice Project uses different means to gather intelligence on animal experimentation – published scientific research, government statistics, Home Office data, parliamentary avenues, UK legislation, including the Freedom of Information Act, and whistleblowers.
Campaigns
Animal Justice Project, as a vegan organisation, campaigns against animal experiments on primarily moral grounds. Its first campaign 'Secret War: The Invisible Victims', that was launched in March 2015, highlighted the use of animals in warfare experiments. The launch was marked with a demonstration at the Animals in War Memorial in Central London. The campaign revealing animal "torture" at the UK government’s secretive warfare laboratory Porton Down reached millions on the front page of the Sunday Mirror. Studies exposed involved guinea pigs being forced to inhale nerve gas, marmosets infected with biothreat diseases, pigs forced to inhale toxic mustard gas, and rabbits having their legs clamped and weights dropped on them five times their body weight so that researchers could infect their open wounds with bacteria. Animal Justice Project further exposed in the media other warfare experiments being carried out by researchers at Leicester University and the University of Birmingham.
The organisation launched a second campaign in April 2015, with an exclusive report in The Sunday Times and another event in Central London. The organisation described animal experiments involving recreational drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy, nicotine, alcohol and 'designer drugs', to name a few. These experiments were taking place inside universities in Cambridge, Cardiff, Nottingham and Sussex.
Newsletter
Animal Justice Project has a monthly online newsletter called 'REACT!', which updates supporters on campaigns, actions and events.