Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
Last week, advocates from around the world gathered in Toronto, Canada, for AVA International’s Animal & Vegan Advocacy Summit—a global conference focused on confronting the systems that exploit animals, and envisioning how to dismantle them.
During the opening ceremonies, We Animals founder Jo-Anne McArthur introduced keynote speaker Zed Nelson, author of The Anthropocene Illusion, a photographic study examining how humans retreat into increasingly simulated environments to mask our divorce from nature.
Following the opening ceremonies, We Animals hosted a photo exhibit. Hundreds of people gathered to view a selection of images depicting the animals we’re fighting for, now living safely and freely at rescues and sanctuaries. While many conversations throughout AVA focused on difficult truths and the urgent realities animals currently face across industries, the exhibit reflected on the world for animals we are working toward.
Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
The exhibit featured stories of rescue, recovery, and interspecies connection from around the world. Visitors encountered images of survivors of the fur industry, hens rescued from mass culling, and rescued sheep and cattle living peacefully in sanctuaries; animals once treated as units or waste now living safely, with autonomy, and with care.
Among the photographs displayed were:
- Maciek, an arctic fox rescued from a fur farm in Poland, enjoying his first pear at a sanctuary
- Jasmine, a rescued pig, embraced by a caregiver at Catskill Animal Sanctuary
- Harold and Fredrick, two rescued turkeys spared from becoming Christmas dinner, now living safely at a sanctuary
- Whammy, a piglet rescued from a municipal dump site in South Africa and rehabilitated through community-led care
Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
For many attendees, the exhibit became a space for reflection and connection amid an emotionally heavy week of learning and advocacy.
Highlights from the We Animals Team at AVA
Throughout the conference, the We Animals team attended sessions on the need for investigations, AI and animal interests, movement building, coalitions across sectors, farm transitions, reaching audiences beyond the movement, and more. Team members reflected on the importance of gathering in person with advocates from around the world.
I met wildly interesting, smart, courageous, passionate people all day, including our donors, of course! It’s fascinating to hear what all these people are up to. Everyone I met was excited to learn about We Animals. Many shared how much they rely on visuals from our stock site, and the few people who didn’t know about this resource were blown away. — Jennifer Auten, Donor Engagement Specialist
Listening to Erin Wing, Ira Moon, and Pete Paxton talk about the power and pain of investigations was especially moving for me. Their first-hand accounts, practical advice, and passion for the work underscored the importance of whistleblowers, undercover investigators, and animal photojournalists in the movement. I have immense gratitude for them, those who came before, and the next generation that will show the world the cruel realities of factory farming. — Lisa Amerongen, Executive Director
Photo credit: Riley McKenna Simonds
I was so happy for the random moments of connection, especially with our partners and donors. It’s a place where we can gather and evolve together. — Jo-Anne McArthur, Founder & President
Again and again throughout the week, advocates shared how deeply they rely on visuals from the We Animals stock site in their own investigations, campaigns, journalism, and outreach. The visuals have become part of a larger ecosystem dedicated to revealing the animals and systems normally hidden from public view.
And, as in years past, AVA left our team with a renewed motivation to keep exposing the realities animals face while helping people imagine something better.
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