Hi there,

I’m so grateful to be (virtually) meeting you today. I’m Dan, The Humane League’s new CEO.

To take the helm at this organization—relentlessly campaigning for justice for animals, using the most effective strategies at our disposal—is a dream come true. Deep in my heart, I believe factory farming is an atrocity of historical proportions, one that future generations will look back on with horror.

When I was sixteen, leaving a punk rock show in Boston, someone handed me a leaflet about factory farming. That person changed my life, and they’re the reason I’m writing to you today. 

Maybe you’ve had a similar impact on someone. The point is, your power is greater than you can ever know. And The Humane League’s strategy is built on that truth, harnessing the infinite strength and impact of compassionate people like yourself. Our campaigns are driving us toward the end of factory farming on a longer time horizon—while sparing millions of animals from the worst suffering, now.

Ending factory farming may seem like an audacious goal, and it is. But industrial animal agriculture is a relatively new development, only having gained widespread adoption in the US in the mid-20th century. The reality is, it doesn’t have to be this way.

There’s so much I could share with you today, and you can read more about my journey and vision for our shared future, here. But I’ll start by sharing a few values of mine, which guide my life and the person I am:

To me, empathy means acknowledging that the suffering of other beings is meaningful, and doing what we can to help. This might seem obvious to kind people like you. But too much of our society is oriented in the exact opposite way: as long as I get what I want, I’m not concerned about what happens to others. Factory farming may be the single most egregious expression of this mindset, and empathy is what will help us end it. 

Justice, to me, means that everyone can live free from undue suffering, with their needs met and their rights upheld in a fair and equitable way. Industrial animal agriculture is one of the most pervasive, and most overlooked, forms of injustice—depriving billions of individuals of their most basic rights. Justice for all living beings cannot be achieved without ending factory farming. 

One of my favorite quotes about social change work comes from the American abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand.” It’s this insight that guides my work as a campaigner and an organizer. If we want companies to do the right thing, we need to demand that they do it, loudly and publicly. There are powerful forces of injustice at work in the world, and it’s only through collective action—people like you, standing in solidarity with animals and with each other—that we can put enough pressure on corporate interests to end factory farming.

More to come. But for today, thank you for reading. And thank you for being part of this movement to change the world for animals. I can’t wait to make history with you.

For the animals,

P.S. To the person who handed me the leaflet outside that punk rock show—if you’re out there, reading this, thank you.