"The U.S. meat industry has engaged in intrusive surveillance of animal rights groups, including monitoring relationships between activists and tracking employees of leading charities.
The industry-funded Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA) shared information with livestock companies about the romantic partners and even biological ties of those in animal rights organisations.
Documents seen by DeSmog show that in one instance the group shared the location and a photo of an activist’s girlfriend with industry members who were passing intelligence to the local sheriff.
Part funded by public money, the AAA created a database of over 2,400 individuals including those who simply “affiliate” on social media with animal rights groups. The database also included “suspicious individuals” at animal rights protests, and those who have tried to film or report on conditions at farms.
“It’s a chilling intrusion into people’s private lives and constitutional rights,” said Ben Williamson of the animal rights organisation Animal Outlook, which is listed by the AAA as an “extreme” group.
The livestock industry accounts for over 14 percent of all emissions worldwide, and scientific experts agree that it must rapidly transform to meet international climate obligations.
DeSmog analysed hundreds of pages of leaked documents produced between 2015 and 2025. They provide a snapshot of the tactics used by the meat and dairy industry to undermine and discredit criticisms of the sector as it faces growing pressure to address animal welfare and environmental harms."
https://www.desmog.com/2025/09/19/chilling-surveillance-activists-meat-and-dairy-industry-animal-agriculture-alliance/
#USA #AnimalRights #Surveillance #AnimalWelfare #GasEmissions #ClimateChange
ResearchBuzz: Firehose
schneckenhaus
Miguel Afonso Caetano
ErNandy
