| Founder(s) | Sharon Núñez, Javier Moreno and Jose Valle |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Location | Madrid |
| Key people | President and International Spokesperson Sharon Núñez |
| Area served | Spain, UK, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia |
| Focus | Animal rights |
| Method | Education, investigation, open rescues |
| Motto | We are different and equal |
| Website | www.animalequality.net |
Animal Equality (the original name, and in Spanish, Igualdad Animal).
Igualdad Animal is an international non-profit animal rights organization whose purpose is "to achieve equal consideration and respect for animals, and the abolition of animal slavery". This statement takes to question speciesism, the view that animals have the same status as property.[1] Currently the organization is present in Spain, UK, Peru, Venezuela and Colombia. Their activities are concentrated in the cities of Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona, Caracas y Bogotá.
The objective of Animal Equality is "to raise awareness of the suffering and deaths of nonhuman animals as victims of speciesism and work towards the abolition of animal use through the promotion of veganism."
This organization organizes street demonstrations to promote respect for animals.[2] They have also carried out several more direct actions, such as linking to a slaughter house,[3] an open rescue of six pigs[4] and an investigation on the slaughter houses of Spain.[5] Furthermore, they have slipped down from a Toro de Osborne[6] and of the bullring of Las Ventas.[7] In June 2008 they realized two joint operations in the bullring La Monumental of Barcelona: while two activists slipped down from the façade, four more jumped into the ring after one of the bulls died.[8][9] According to the people in charge of the organization, the activists who jumped into the ring were attacked by the public and workers of the bullring. In July 2008 Animal Equality displayed an investigation in which several activists entered a farm of the Campofrío company, gathering sixteen corpses of pigs that were later taken to the office of this company.[10]
On 21 January 2009, Telecinco relayed, in the program "Diario de", images of the assault on the ring realised by Animal Equality to the bullring of Saragossa and its entrance in an industrial ship with 40,000 hens to denounce their situation as well as the previous moments to these actions.[11]
Animal Equality does not support welfare reforms, or changes in the way animals are exploited, as the group believes that "reforms in animal treatment benefit exploiters by increasing efficiency and profit, and encourage the public to feel more comfortable about consuming animal products."