ASPCA Announces Third Year of Grant Funding to Support an End to Factory Farming in the United States

NEW YORK – The ASPCA^® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals^®) has announced up to $150,000 in new grant funding that will be available to U.S. or select Canadian organizations and institutions this year through the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming. These grants will generally range from $10,000 to $30,000 and build on the nearly $400,000 already distributed for innovative projects that reveal the harms caused by factory farming and the benefits of alternative, higher-welfare systems.

“Billions of animals languish every year on crowded, barren industrial farms and resolving this massive source of suffering requires a broad movement of advocates driving in alignment toward a better future” said Daisy Freund, vice president of farm animal welfare at the ASPCA. “For the third year, the ASPCA is proud to offer funding for innovative projects that make a strong case to shift away from factory farming to practices that benefit animals, farmers and all those impacted by our current food system.”

At any given moment, over 1.6 billion chickens, pigs, cattle and other land animals are being raised for food across the U.S., and approximately 10 billion farmed animals are slaughtered annually. These animals are overwhelmingly raised on what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the agriculture industry refer to as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), also known as “factory farms,” which may hold tens or even hundreds of thousands of animals in extremely crowded conditions. In addition to being inhumane, these facilities remain insufficiently governed by minimal laws and regulations, causing harm throughout the food supply chain, from farmers to consumers.

The ASPCA is one of the nation’s largest animal welfare grant makers, and since 2001, the ASPCA has given more than $200 million in grants to over 3,500 animal shelters, municipal and governmental agencies, rescue groups, universities and other mission-aligned organizations and programs nationwide. These funds go toward a variety of programs, including over $5.5 million to protect farmed animals through direct care, research, educational campaigns and supporting farmers’ adoption of more humane practices. In conjunction with the ASPCA’s efforts to enact federal and state policies that protect farmed animals, improve corporate standards on farm animal welfare and empower consumers with information about more humane food, the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming is designed to foster collaboration across aligned movements and help transition the U.S. food system away from intensive animal agriculture.

“Farmers and ranchers who want to do right by their animals and the environment face many hurdles, including financial constraints and federal farm policies that benefit the status quo,” said Michael Happ, Program Associate for Climate and Rural Communities at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, a 2022 grant recipient. “On top of that, some programs meant to conserve our land and water in fact lock in unsustainable and inhumane factory farm practices. The ASPCA’s support enabled us to shine a light on ways our federal conservation programs support harmful industrial agriculture, and advocate for a return to true conservation that benefits small-scale producers and livestock.”

Applications for the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming will be accepted through March 5. The resulting materials from accepted projects must be made public and should highlight the impacts inherent in animal agriculture, whether intensive industrial farming or otherwise. Additional opportunities to submit funding requests for research projects that directly or indirectly impact the wellbeing of animals will be announced soon. For more information about the eligibility requirements or to submit a proposal, please visit ASPCApro.org/FarmRFP.