Project summary

Sentience is a Swiss non-profit dedicated to advancing animal welfare through direct democratic initiatives and strategic engagement. We aim to shift public opinion and policy to establish sentience as the central moral consideration for all human and non-human animals. Through institutional changes and challenges to societal norms, we seek to drive systemic changes that result in meaningful reforms and legislation, ensuring that animal suffering is minimised as effectively as possible. 

Sentience Website

2022 Annual Report   2023 Annual Report

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

Our current projects include: 

1. Preparations for a National Ballot Initiative Demanding Outdoor Access for All Farm Animals in Switzerland

It may surprise you to learn that 87% of Swiss farm animals—approximately 80 million individuals—lack regular outdoor access. This group is overwhelmingly composed of chickens, followed by pigs. We believe the public will find this reality unacceptable, as it contradicts their perceptions of Swiss animal welfare standards.

Phase one of our plan involves launching a major online petition campaign to demand outdoor access for all farm animals. This approach not only reduces the risks, time, and costs associated with physical signature collection but also provides a clear indication of the campaign’s likely success.

This will pave the way for the launch of the national Ballot Initiative, with our Alliance Against Factory Farming playing an integral role in the effort.

Building on the success of our previous Initiative to Abolish Factory Farming, we anticipate that this campaign will set the agenda for farmed animals in Switzerland and serve as another ‘lighthouse project’ with significant influence beyond our borders, particularly within the EU.

2. Building the Alliance Against Factory Farming.
   We are further developing the Alliance Against Factory Farming, a coalition of animal welfare, farming, and environmental organisations. This alliance is a long-term strategic effort to counterbalance the agricultural lobby's influence and drive policy changes in favour of higher welfare standards. Our approach includes: 

• Pressure campaigns targeting major retailers, focusing on animal welfare issues such as phasing out low-welfare breeds, with a particular emphasis on chickens.

• Establishing a platform to counter misleading advertising practices, highlighting the disconnect between advertising images and reality. 

3. Invisible Animals Campaign:  At Sentience, acknowledging the capacity for suffering as a crucial moral criterion is at the core of our mission. Thus, we aim to give a voice to ‘invisible animals’ those whose well-being receives little or no attention in our society.

This campaign highlights the welfare issues of: 

• Animals that are alien to us and traditionally considered non- or barely sentient. This includes fish and bees.

• Animals that live among us in urban areas and depend on proximity to humans. This includes rats and pigeons.

The campaign includes a call to action to sign all or some of the petitions demanding concrete welfare improvements. Once the signature collection phase is complete, we will work with supportive politicians to present these demands to parliament. Acceptance of even one or more of these demands could significantly improve the welfare of these neglected animals.

Campaign Link: https://sentience.ch/en/the-invisible-animals-need-your-help/

EA-Forum Link: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/JrisJK5mjq3tdChnb/addressing-neglectedness-in-animal-advocacy-focus-on-the

The neglectedness of this area is also reflected in the fact that we have yet to receive funding for it. Perhaps you can help us change that.

How will this funding be used?

Funding will be used to cover expenses including: 

Events to raise public awareness, campaign and outreach-related costs, salaries, materials, campaign website development and design, collaboration and partnership facilitation costs. 

This funding will help us to achieve systematic long-term improvements for millions of animals.

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

Team: 

Sentience consists of an operational core team, a board of directors and an academic advisory board that provides insights on our core topics. Full details can be found here: https://sentience.ch/en/team/

Track record and milestones:

Founded in 2014 as a project of the Effective Altruism Foundation, Sentience has operated as a tax-exempt association since 2017. Our team and management are supported in their campaign and political work by our board and expert advisory board, together with an extensive network of professionals from the fields of sustainability, animal ethics and agriculture.

Sentience has a reputation for punching above its weight, delivering significant impact relative to budget. 

2016-2018: Local voting on our Sustainable Food initiatives in Basel, Zürich, Lucerne, and Bern led to significant policy changes. The establishment of the City of Zürich’s sustainable nutrition unit traces back to this initiative.

2022: We pioneered a historic vote in Basel-Stadt to secure Fundamental Rights for Non-Human Primates. Although we did not win, we received endorsements from figures like Dr. Jane Goodall and succeeded in inspiring political parties to incorporate explicit policies on animal rights into their manifestos.

2022: We led the groundbreaking Initiative to Abolish Factory Farming in Switzerland, securing over 1 million votes, (37% of the electorate). This catalysed a nationwide and international debate on farm animal welfare, inspiring similar initiatives in Sonoma County and Colorado. 

2023: We established the Alliance Against Factory Farming, currently comprised of eleven organisations, that continue to work towards better farm animal welfare conditions. 

2023:  Our "RRRevolution!" campaign secured 11,500+ online signatories in four months The campaign called for applying the 3R principle (refine, reduce, replace) to animals in agriculture, resulting in agreements for roundtable discussions with major retailers on farm animal welfare and the protein transition. 

2023: In collaboration with collaboratio helvetica and the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Sentience hosted a multi-stakeholder series of workshops, “The Protein Lab” to explore how to accelerate the protein transition. The final report in German can be viewed here

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

Failure could slow the momentum we've built up through our previous successes. It could potentially delay crucial improvements needed for the welfare of both invisible and farm animals, leaving them vulnerable to continued neglect and suffering.

What other funding are you or your project getting?

EA Funds, OWA, Anonymous European Foundation