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HUMANE MYTH
GLOSSARY:
Animal welfare industrial complex



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 HUMANE MYTH GLOSSARY
Abolition
Animal advocacy
Animal husbandry
Animal protection
Animal rights
Animal welfare
Animal welfare industrial complex
Animal-using industries
Co-option
Commodification
Conflict of Interest
Conscience
Conscientious objection
Critical thinking
Cruelty-free
Disillusionment
Doctrine of necessary evil
Happy Meat
Hogwashing
Humane myth
Humane slaughter
Neocarnism
Non-participation and Non-cooperation
Non-violent social change
Open Rescue
Path of Conscience
Plant-based diet
Privilege of domination
Speciesism
Suffering
Sustainable
Utilitarianism
Values-based activism
Vegan
 






Animal welfare industrial complex

A network of large animal advocacy organizations and various segments of the animal-using industry that collaborate on product development and promotion, public relations events, and legislative initiatives. From the animal-using industry, the participating animal advocacy organizations receive conference sponsorships, media opportunities and mainstream credibility. They also receive "victories," publicly announced animal husbandry "concessions" on the part of the animal-using industry that are used by the large animal organizations to solicit donations and recruit new members. From the animal organizations, the industry receives endorsements and other positive publicity, as well as advice on how to make their products more "humane" and therefore more acceptable and even more desirable to the public. Typically, these "humane" products are both more expensive and more profitable.

This is an example of a much-discussed phenomenon plaguing all modern social justice movements in which an exploitative industry will co-opt any incremental change in which it is allowed to play a part, and the possibility of a fundamental transformation is blocked. This is sometimes referred to as "industry capture."

For further background, see Invasion of the Movement Snatchers: A Social Justice Movement Falls Prey to the Doctrine of "Necessary Evil."