Animal Outlook

🎉 VICTORY: Ranch stops slaughter after our investigation! Three weeks ago, Shahnawaz Ranch’s website was live with many offerings, including a “Choose Your Animal” page and a welcoming note about the family-run operation in Perris, California. Today, that page is gone. In its place is a short note about a temporary closure. That closure follows the Shahnawaz Ranch investigation we conducted inside the facility, which documented goats and sheep remaining conscious and struggling for up to three minutes after their throats were cut. Workers were also filmed dragging animals by their horns and legs, kicking a goat, and chasing terrified animals into fencing. #AnimalOutlook #AnimalAgriculture #CaliforniaNews

Our investigator went undercover at Shahnawaz Ranch in Perris, California. In one day, they documented sheep struggling for minutes after their throats were cut, a goat being kicked, and 19 apparent violations of federal slaughter law. The facility doesn't appear to be licensed or inspected by the USDA or California. We've filed a federal complaint calling for investigation, shutdown, and criminal referral. As our Executive Director, Ben Williamson Ⓥ 🌱 💚, points out, this footage is graphic. It's also proof, and proof is what moves cases off a shelf and onto a regulator's desk. Regulators can't act on what they can't see, and the industry counts on that. If you know anyone in animal welfare law, regulatory policy, or investigative journalism who should see this, tag them below. The more eyes on this, the harder it is to look away from. #AnimalWelfare #FarmedAnimals #AnimalOutlook

The FAA just proposed a rule that could let factory farms and slaughterhouses shut down the airspace above their facilities to drones. 🚁 That means the exact tool that has exposed animal cruelty, environmental violations, and consumer fraud in the food system could disappear, with no evidence drones pose any safety or security risk to these facilities. Aerial footage is how we've seen what the industry doesn't want seen. Flooded manure lagoons after Hurricane Florence. Mass culling during avian and swine flu outbreaks. Feedlots holding over 100,000 cattle. Egg farms marketed as "free-roaming" that were anything but. In one case, footage secured by Animal Outlook and We Animals helped win a class action settlement against an egg producer that lied about how its hens were housed. ⏳ The comment period closes August 5, 2026. If you can, submit a comment opposing this rule before the deadline. You can read the joint comment already filed by FarmSTAND, We Animals, and Animal Outlook here: https://lnkd.in/gkptzJNj Submit your own comment here: https://lnkd.in/gzPHxQqM Full proposed rule: https://lnkd.in/ggr4e2aa

Summer at McCray's Farm is looking pretty different this year. 🌻 The Western Massachusetts dairy is in the middle of transitioning to agrotourism, and the season is in full swing. Sunflower picking is open, mini golf is running, and the summer concert series just kicked off. Here's what makes that worth celebrating: this transition means nearing the end of the 130 cow dairy operation. Every one of those cows has the opportunity to get a real retirement at sanctuary, instead of a life in the dairy industry. This is what Animal Outlook's Farm Transitions Program is built for. Not just ending an operation, but building something that works better for everyone, for farmers, for the community, and for animals. 🐄

Another sporting event, another chance for vegan outreach by Animal Outlook supporters… As thousands of soccer fans poured into Atlanta for the FIFA World Cup, Chapter Leader Evan Thomas and a team of volunteers seized the moment. Positioned along busy walkways, they handed Animal Outlook’s vegan leaflets directly to tourists and fans—many even reaching out to take one as they passed. In the middle of the excitement, the team offered a pause for reflection, giving people from around the world something meaningful to consider during the tournament.

Nothing stops our supporters when it comes to outreach. Not even 25.5 miles. 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️ Animal Outlook Chapter Leader, Al Biondi, just finished a full triathlon, the kind of race that leaves most people wanting nothing more than a shower and a nap. Instead, Al pulled out a stack of vegan protein bars, and started handing them at the end of the event. His Animal Outlook shirt, sleeves cut off, caught people's attention. Several finishers asked him about it on the spot, right there in the middle of recovering from one of the hardest physical challenges a person can take on. That's the kind of dedication our community brings to this work. Outreach doesn't stop at a finish line. Sometimes it's exactly where it starts. 💪 Thank you, Al, for showing up for animals even when you'd already given everything you had for yourself.

🥩🌱 Vegan jerky at a Baconfest? You bet. Last weekend, our volunteer Kristine hit the streets of Kelseyville, CA for Baconfest. Over the course of a few hours, she handed out roughly 200 samples of plant-based jerky to curious festival-goers, and the feedback said it all. One man tried a piece and told Kristine: "If you wouldn't have told us, I would have never known it was vegan." 😄 But the moment that really stuck? A woman stopped by and shared that she'd gone plant-based three years ago after losing her husband to heart disease. She said she was glad to see alternatives at an event like this. That's the kind of conversation that reminds us why this work matters. People asked where they could buy it. They took pamphlets, stickers, and magazines. They asked questions. Even a vegan attendee — who admitted she wasn't expecting much at a meat-themed event — was glad something was there for her (that's community building!) Of course, Kristine also talked with people about why alternatives like this matter: sows spend their lives in extreme confinement, often subjected to painful procedures without anesthetic. Plant-based jerky offers a cruelty-free option that's also lower in saturated fat and free of cholesterol — and often more affordable. At Animal Outlook, we meet people where they are — sometimes literally at a Baconfest. And we'll keep showing up. 🐷 #AnimalOutlook #VeganOutreach #PlantBased #AnimalWelfare #Baconfest

Last night, the Pico Rivera Planning Commission voted unanimously to permanently revoke planning permission for the Manning Beef slaughterhouse—ensuring that LA County's last cow slaughterhouse will never reopen. This is a monumental win for animals, for the community, and for everyone who refuses to accept cruelty as business as usual. More than a dozen Animal Outlook supporters gathered outside City Hall before the meeting, rallying together before packing the commission room to capacity. The energy was powerful, the message was clear, and the commissioners listened. Manning Beef's owner pleaded with the commission to reconsider. Three of their lawyers argued that the commission didn't have the authority to revoke the permit. But the commissioners saw through the legal maneuvering and stood firm. When the vote came, it was unanimous among all members present. 💪 Our Director of Investigations, Scott David, delivered compelling public testimony detailing Manning Beef's shocking record: 61 USDA Non-compliance Records between 2018 and 2025 for violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, including starving animals, excessive shocking, and beating them in the face. The USDA suspended inspections at the facility twice—once in 2020 for "an egregious act of inhumane handling" and again in 2022 for "a trend of repetitive noncompliance." Our undercover investigation from late 2024 documented the reality behind those statistics: a downed cow shocked with an electric prod more than 20 times, cows dropped head-first onto concrete floors, and multiple animals butchered while showing signs of sensibility to pain. We also obtained USDA records through a Freedom of Information request revealing cockroach infestations, E. coli in ground beef destined for the National School Lunch Program, and failures to implement BSE monitoring procedures. But this victory wasn't just about animal welfare violations. Local residents also spoke out, sharing how Manning Beef affected their daily lives with noise and smell complaints. Their voices mattered. The community stood together. This is what's possible when investigation meets advocacy, when documentation meets mobilization, and when people refuse to give up. We saw it with Farmer John in Vernon. Now we're seeing it in Pico Rivera. 🌟 After nearly a century of operation, Manning Beef is permanently closed. That space will now become something that truly serves the community—not a place of suffering. To everyone who showed up last night, who shared our campaign, who believed this was possible: thank you. This victory belongs to all of us. And to the animals who suffered inside those walls: we didn't forget you. We never will. 🐮💚 #AnimalOutlook #AnimalRights #PicoRivera #LosAngeles #InvestigativeJournalism #AnimalWelfare #CommunityAction #Victory