What’s the value in a life?

The sheer enormity of the scale of suffering we witness as animal advocates makes it important to remember the value of individual animals. Too often, we are focused exclusively on big solutions. We think about markets, and new replacement technologies, and sweeping policy changes. But in focusing on the big, we risk losing the heart of our movement. The individuals who are suffering in labs, factory farms, puppy mills, and fisheries around the world. Every life matters.

We are fighting to ensure that every animal stuck in a lab finds its way out and to a better life. But the reality is that there are far more than 100 million animals stuck in labs in the United States right now. Even if we ended the barbaric practice of animal experimentation tomorrow, many of these animals would surely be euthanized—unable to be placed in permanent homes or adopted.

We believe that when we have the opportunity to free individual animals from labs, we should do so. These animals are ambassadors and symbols. Symbols of the love animals exude that perseveres through their suffering at the hands of people. And their stories are what motivate people to leverage their power to make change.

Hear their stories

NEAVS will continue rescuing individual animals and will continue to tell the stories of these incredible beings for all of their emotional complexity. And we hope that you will read and share their stories with your networks to ensure that these lucky few survivors maximize their impact and serve as advocates for the still-caged millions. These animals are liberated – and we won’t stop fighting until every animal is free from their cages.