Animal Rising, formerly called Animal Rebellion, is a United Kingdom based radical animal liberation group that seeks to draw attention to animal issues and gain support for its viewpoint that humans must fundamentally change their relationship with animals. ¹ The organization advocates for an end to commercial animal farming and commercial fishing and advocates for a plant-based diet that is not dependent upon modern farming practices in favor of “re-wilding,” the practice of returning arable land to a non-commercially viable state. ²

The organization, a former project of the radical environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion, primarily operates through shock-and-awe activism to draw attention to its viewpoints. ³

Background

Animal Rising was founded in 2019 under the name “Animal Rebellion” as a sister organization to Extinction Rebellion (XR), a radical environmentalist activist group. ⁴ In 2023, Animal Rebellion changed its name to Animal Rising. ⁵

Advocacy

Animal Agriculture

Animal Rising opposes commercial food production in favor of a plant-based diet. ⁶ Animal Rising activists are trained to trespass onto food production facilities and disrupt business operations. In addition to such disruptions, activists also engage in theft by stealing animals from food production facilities under the guise of “rescue” operations. ⁷

Beyond directly disrupting commercial food production facilities, Animal Rising also orchestrates campaigns targeted at the general public to bring attention to its mission. This includes sit-ins that prevented individuals from shopping at supermarkets and restaurants and setting up roadblocks that disrupt the flow of traffic. ⁸

Animal Racing

Animal Rising activists are trained to engage in “mass trespass” on animal racing events to protest the perceived mistreatment of racing animals. ⁹

In April of 2023, dozens of Animal Rising activists successfully breached the perimeter fences of the Grand National horse race at the Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. ¹⁰ In October of 2023, Animal Rising attempted to disrupt the Epsom Derby, though only one activist was able to make it onto the derby racecourse and was promptly arrested. ¹¹

Leadership

While Animal Rising does not have a centralized leadership structure, the founding members of Animal Rising in 2019 reportedly consisted of 12 individuals that included Daniel Kidby, Dora Hargitai, and Alex Lockwood. ¹²

Lockwood, who identifies himself as Animal Rising’s “narrative lead” on his LinkedIn page, was a senior lecturer in professional and creative writing at the University of Sunderland from 2008 to 2023. ¹³

1. “Who is Animal Rising.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/who-are-animal-rising
2. ^[1] “Who is Animal Rising.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/who-are-animal-rising
3.  “Our History.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/our-history
4.  “Extinction Rebellion: The story behind the activist group.” BBC. December 21, 2018. Accessed March 20, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-46626582/extinction-rebellion-the-story-behind-the-activist-group
5.  “Our History.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/our-history
6. “How We Achieve Change.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/how-we-achieve-change
7. “How We Achieve Change.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/how-we-achieve-change
8. “How We Achieve Change.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/how-we-achieve-change
9.  “How We Achieve Change.” Animal Rising. https://www.animalrising.org/how-we-achieve-change
10. “Grand National Disrupted: Animal Rising Occupy Track.” Animal Rising. April 15, 2023. Accessed March 20, 2024. https://www.animalrising.org/post/grand-national-disrupted-animal-rising-occupy-track
11. “This article is more than 5 months old Animal Rising activist given suspended sentence for Derby course invasion.” The Guardian. October 11, 2023. Accessed March 20, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/11/animal-rising-activist-given-suspended-sentence-epsom-derby-course-invasion
12. “Who is Animal Rebellion? Ten people arrested after protesters douse gates of Parliament with paint.” The Standard. September 7, 2022. Accessed March 20, 2024. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/who-is-animal-rebellion-climate-activists-parliament-arrested-paint-b1023913.html
13. “Alex Lockwood.” LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-lockwood-6028714/?originalSubdomain=uk