Project summary

Frente Animal (FA) is the name of our new non-profit organization, dedicated to improving the ethical treatment of farmed animals, both in Portugal, where we are based, and throughout the European Union, by supporting existing initiatives and coalitions.

Our organization is born out of an existing project called “Abrir de Asas”, that was promoted by the Portuguese Vegetarian Association, which is being transitioned out of its previous organization, and into Frente Animal, the new organization, due to strategic reasons. 

Our organization adopts the following methods:

• Research into livestock production in Portugal and exposure of current practices;

• Production and compilation of knowledge on the industrial farm industry (e.g. reports, white papers), from the perspective of the ethical treatment of these animals;

• Drawing up political and corporate recommendations regarding the ethical treatment of farmed animals;

• Promoting corporate commitment to the ethical treatment of farmed animals, as well as transparency through reporting;

• Developing information and educational campaigns on the ethical treatment of farmed animals;

• Promote the adoption of public policies on the ethical treatment of farmed animals, at local, national and European level.

• Promote the development of technologies that enable more ethical treatment of farmed animals.
  

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

Our organization's current main project is ‘Abrir de Asas’ (www.abrirdeasas.pt), that aims to raise the bar on the minimum welfare standards in the broiler and hens industry, in Portugal. 

The primary goals of the project are:

• to pressure Portuguese corporate representatives to adopt cage-free practices (in the case of the hen industry) and/or persuade policy-makers to approve cage-free legislation (which would apply to the industry as a whole);

• to persuade corporate decision-makers to gradually adopt ECC (European Chicken Commitment) measures, in the case of the broiler industry,  whilst at the same time lobbying with local parliament to adopt policies or legislation that creates incentives to the adoption of ECC.

The secondary goals of the project, that we understand that support the main goals, through the creation of a critical mass, is:

• to conduct further investigations into the broiler and hen industry, that exposes the suffering-causing conditions in which the animals live and are slaughtered, by highlighting current inadequate practises;

to raise awareness about these issues on a public large-scale and nudge consumers towards more ethical choices.

How will this funding be used?

We expect to invest the funding in the following:

• Supporting the salaries of a committed team of animal welfare advocates, some of them on full-time and others on part-time position;

• Direct lobbying activities;

• Producing investigative footage and photography to be used in the political and corporate lobbying work;

• Preparation tasks (e.g. research, white-papers, designing and printing costs);

• Social media marketing and campaigning;

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

Regarding our core team and their expertise, it’s as follows:

• Nuno Alvim: project manager and coordinator. He holds a degree in law and criminology. He was the director of the Portuguese Vegetarian Society for 6 years (2018-2024) during which he was responsible for kickstarting and managing several corporate and lobbying campaigns. For example, between 2015 and 2016, he successfully lobbied for the introduction of an unprecedented law that mandates the provision of plant-based meals in all public facilities (https://metro.co.uk/2017/03/10/it-is-now-illegal-not-to-offer-vegan-food-at-prisons-hospitals-and-schools-in-portugal-6501872/). He is the co-founder of “Voz Animal”, a new Portuguese organisation focused on the better ethical treatment of farmed animals.

• Joana Machado: corporate officer & specialist. She holds a degree in educational sciences. Joana is the co-founder of “Voz Animal”, and has more than 2 years of experience in farmed animal’s investigations and conducting corporate lobbying work. She has led investigations that exposed cruel practices in broiler farms and achieved presence in at least 3 media pieces that had hundreds of thousands of viewers.

• Ana Bordalo: political lobbying specialist. She holds a degree in Law. She has been engaged as a volunteer in lobbying projects, and successfully achieved a ban on “garraiadas”, an academic practise that involves the use of bulls for bullfighting in academic settings, in Portugal. She has been working as a lobbying specialist for about 1 year in the “Abrir de Asas” project.

• Fernando Teixeira: media and communications officer. Holds a degree in Marketing and communication. He has been managing “Abrir de Asas” communication for about 1 year, including social media and PR communication.
  

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

At the moment our main organizational challenges, that may cause the project to fail, and how we plan to address them, is as follows:

• We are a new non-profit organization that lacks recognition: although this organization has grown out of an existing project (Abrir de Asas: www.abrirdeasas.pt) that has worked together with relevant stakeholders in this cause area, such as OWA (Humane League), Eurogroup for Animals, etc., we are still unknown as a new non-profit, and this means we will need to put in extra effort in this initial stage to build alliances, strengthen our network, and increase recognition through effective communication. We expect that this, along with our team’s track record, will establish our credibility.

• In terms of organizational strategy, and although we have a clear mission and vision, we are still honing and perfecting our strategic plan, to which we expect to be making dynamic adjustments based on our learnings with existing and future projects.

• We still struggle as an organization to improve our impact measurement, and therefore aim to partner with existing academic institutions and to resort to EA-aligned experts to reinforce this aspect of our work.
  

What other funding are you or your project getting?

We have applied and received some funding from the following organizations:

• Craigslist Foundation

• Center for Effective Altruism