Animal Fighting or Races

We're getting ready to launch year four of HRC's Animal Tracker annual survey of the public opinion and behavior of adults in the U.S. This year's survey, which will field in March, addresses specific behaviors that people change (or not) due to their concern for animals, perceived importance of humane education, and support for various advocacy tactics. We asked the exact same questions in 2008 and will be able to analyze changes over time. When the results are available in April, we’ll also refresh the Animal Tracker graphing tool that we launched in 2010.

2010 was the biggest year yet for HumaneSpot.org, with more users and more research content to help advocates help animals. The website is the Humane Research Council's primary means of sharing new research and we're excited to see that so many of you are making use of HumaneSpot.org and finding it valuable in your work for animals!

A recent book by Hal Herzog, "Some We Love, Some We Hate, and Some We Eat," discusses the attitudes people have toward various species of animals. In the case of some animals, however, cultural attitudes seem inconsistent. This is the case with horses in the U.S. Some of our cultural practices use horses in cruel sports that can lead to their injury or death, while other cultural practices put horses on par with dogs and cats. They are loved companion animals and they are not considered acceptable sources of meat, although in some other western countries horses are often used for meat.

In a nutshell, the Humane Research Council (HRC) does three things: 1) Help our clients by designing -- and analyzing results from -- a wide variety of research projects; 2) Make resources like HumaneSpot.org available to both animal groups and individual advocates; and 3) Produce independent research to inform advocates and help them be more effective. However, some readers may not be aware of HRC's independent research; the full reports are free and available online, so here's a quick overview.

When fellow animal advocates ask me questions about research on animal protection issues, I typically ask them if they have looked at our research primers. In response, I usually hear "Research what? Where?" I am guessing that many advocates, even those of you who follow our work, are not aware of the full wealth of free data we have available. Here I want to highlight HRC's research primers, since they are a free resource that can help all advocates better understand the issues on which they are working. So let me tell you a little about them.