Animal rights activists have been gearing up for 2024, and the livestock industry needs to be prepared. Abby Kornegay, manager of issues and engagement for the Animal Agriculture Alliance, talks about what tactics to watch out for in the new year.
“Direct Action Everywhere has pushed this right-to-rescue campaign and something they’re really spreading,” Kornegay said. “They held trainings across the country as part of their campaign earlier this year, having a roadshow that goes across and does training, but we’ll continue to see that. Legislation, they’re pushing members of the animal rights movement to make friends with their legislators to become subject matter experts in their minds so they can become that go-to person to push for legislation that is not friendly to animal agriculture.”
Attacks and misinformation continue on social media platforms, but she says it’s important to respond with the truth.
“Definitely, but we also don’t want that to discourage you from posting that positive, proactive information that we all love,” Kornegay said. “There’s always going to be those people. But really, I think the bigger picture is the cybersecurity aspect of it. We’ve seen a lot of attacks on that cybersecurity front, so if you do have an online presence, make sure it’s safe and secured. They can hack into your account. We had an instance earlier this year of a pork farm in Canada where they took for ransom their security footage and wanted them to come out and claim that there were animal welfare allegations on the farm. Cybersecurity is a growing threat in animal rights, so we just want to make everyone aware.”
Kornegay also gave advice on what to do when faced with trouble from animal activism.
“Stay strong in who you are, don’t give into these groups,” Kornegay said. “We say always it’s best to not engage, so if you can kind of hold out from the engagement, that’s best. We don’t have the same common ground as these folks. They don’t want the same thing as us. We don’t want to even begin those negotiations. Reach out to your local association, your co-op, and reach out to us at Animal Ag Alliance. You can report security threats. We can help spread that message so we can help protect others for your community.”
For more information, go to animalagalliance.org.
