Animal Equality

Activists use images and video footage taken at such locations to advocate banning conventional agricultural practices and the consumption of animal-based products. ²

Background

Animal Equality is an animal liberation group founded in 2006 in Spain by activists Javier Moreno, Jose Valle, and Sharon Nunez to investigate alleged animal cruelty within the country as well as advocate for tougher regulations on animal agriculture. ³ As of 2026 the group operates in up to 13 countries including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. ⁴

Activists with the group have used public advocacy tactics such as covering themselves with fake blood or presenting themselves dressed as slaughtered animals and packaged meat. Local activists have also physically taken animals by illegally trespassing onto farms and slaughterhouses and removing animals from the property.  ³

Activities

Campaigns

According to its website, Animal Equality operates an “End of Factory Farming” campaign that advocates for banning farming practices it claims are inhumane and are being used by 90 percent of all animal farms. Specific examples include allegations of farms not providing animals with anesthetics, instances of livestock allegedly dying in infancy, and livestock being killed in front of other animals. The campaign also opposes the use of cages, artificial insemination, and restraining livestock before slaughter.  ²

Animal Equality also opposes the consumption of dairy products due to claims of animal cruelty on dairy farms. The campaign also advocates for consumption of dairy-free alternative products, claiming they are better for the environment by contributing fewer greenhouse gases.  ⁵

Undercover Activism

Animal Equality organizes undercover activism in search of alleged animal cruelty being practiced on farms and slaughterhouses, while using surreptitiously recorded footage to advocate abstaining from animal-based products. As of January 2026, Animal Equality claims to have investigated over 900 farms and slaughterhouses across 13 countries. The group uses such media to advocate increasing general animal protections, banning cages for livestock, and shutting down certain animal farms. ¹

Specific tactics used by the group include using drone footage, underwater filming, hidden cameras on persons, and “360-degree virtual reality cameras.” The campaign alleges that such footage captured proves environmental harms being done on animal farms and further criticizes grocery chains that sell products from farms being investigated. The group has claimed, “There is no such thing as humane factory farming.”  ¹

Advocacy

In 2018, Animal Equality was one of several animal welfare groups to support the passage of California Proposition 12, or the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act. The measure established minimum space requirements for hens, pigs, and calves within animal farms. In addition, it required specific egg, pork, and veal products sold in California to have been produced in compliance with such requirements regardless of the state in which they were produced. ⁶

In 2021, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) filed a petition to bring a previous 2019 lawsuit against Proposition 12 to the United States Supreme Court, claiming it violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Animal Equality joined the case as an intervening party to defend Proposition 12, and In May 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of upholding the law. ⁶

Animal Equality has previously organized advocacy efforts to oppose proposed legislation that it claims would prevent states from banning the sale of animal products from other states based on compliance with the home state’s farming regulations such as the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act. ⁶

Leadership

Sharon Nunez Gough is the co-founder and president of Animal Equality. She is also a co-director of the Spanish book series LiberAnima.  ⁷

Financials

In 2024, Animal Equality reported $4.4 million in total revenue and $5.1 million in total expenses, including $1.9 million in salaries and compensation of its employees. ⁸