2024 Annual Report

The year 2024 marked a pivotal moment for our organisation. Despite limited human and financial resources, and thanks to the commitment of the entire team, we managed to lay solid foundations that now allow us to look forward to a motivating future. At the same time, we carried out several campaigns and events where we shed light on issues that are particularly close to our hearts. With the support of our community, we are starting the new year full of determination.

At the beginning of the year, we launched the “Invisible Animals” campaign to draw attention to the forgotten species that we, humans, share public spaces with: pigeons, rats, bees and fish. As part of this campaign, three events took place in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. Experts from the academic and political worlds participated to highlight solutions for improving the political consideration of “invisible” animals. This year, we will present our demands to local and national parliamentarians.

Since 2022, one of our focal points has been the responsibility of major retailers, particularly regarding the suffering of hybrid chickens. With a market share of nearly 80 percent, Coop and Migros bear a particular responsibility in the alarming development of industrial poultry farming intensification. With our petition “STOP pre-programmed suffering!”, which collected 12’800 signatures in just two months last fall, we called on the two retail giants to take the issue of poultry fattening seriously. This includes, amongst other things, a shift away from ultra-fast growing breeds and closer cooperation with animal welfare organisations. In December, we met with Coop and Migros to present the petitions and start a discussion, which we plan to continue this year.

Work within our alliance, which was formed during the initiative to abolish factory farming, also continued in 2024. By bringing together environmental, agricultural and animal protection organisations, it focuses on improving the conditions of so-called “farm” animals, and serves as a platform for exchange and collaboration. Several projects that will come to fruition this year are the result of constructive and fruitful collaborations within this alliance.

It has become a tradition at Sentience: our year always ends with a fundraising event, our Matching Challenge. The year 2024 presented us with financial challenges. The fact that we succeeded in reaching — and surpassing — our initial goal fills us with deep gratitude and represents a very special signal. It shows us how strong our community is. In total, thanks to the doubling of all donations by generous donors, we raised a staggering amount of 130’000 CHF.

The fruitful collaborations within the alliance, as well as the invaluable support we receive from our community, allow us to embark on one of our most important projects in 2025. This year, we are launching our new federal popular initiative, with which we aim to guarantee outdoor access for all farm animals in Switzerland. This demand is as simple as it is appealing and would have a distinctly positive effect on the health and well-being of animals. We are in discussions with several partner organisations, and we are sharing the initiative’s responsibilities from the outset. We also have several creative ideas on how this initiative can give new momentum to agricultural policy, and potentially overcome old divisions.