Hello everyone! This is our first post on OpenBooks.com so we decided that we should definitely start with a little introduction and tell you a bit about our work and goals.

Who are we?

Open Cages is a farm animal protection organization founded in 2012 in Poland. It started as a small group of several activists but has grown to twelve local groups across the country and has hundreds of members and volunteers involved. We want to change the situation of farm animals by utilizing proven strategies and tactics, as well as being open to new ones.

There are more and more positive changes for animals taking place in Western European countries. However, we can't forget that factory farming is moving to the East. Animal cruelty knows no borders and we need to work internationally. For these reasons, we’ve decided that Open Cages needs to become an international organization that will bring the problem of factory farming in Eastern Europe to light. To work better against animal abuse we’ve joined forces with Lithuanian organization Tušti narvai. As organizations with many successes we can share experiences, learn from each other and together stand against powerful opponents who possess money and influence.

Our mission

Our goal is to prevent animal suffering by introducing systemic social change, documenting the conditions of factory farming and educating others to promote positive attitudes towards animals!

What do we do?

All our activities are planned and implemented with the goal of being as efficient as possible. It’s not enough that we believe in the right ideas. What is important is whether we can achieve the goals.

We publish videos and photos from Polish farms

We know that people are always more moved by news from nearby areas that other parts of the world. Factory farms that cause enormous animal suffering exist in each Polish province, so we decided to look closer at the hands of breeders and use media to uncover the true face of egg producers, fur farms and those forms of animal abuse that cause most suffering.

Here’s one of our investigations on hen farms that supply their eggs to Kaufland supermarkets:

We sue producers for cruelty to animals

We’ve created an intervention group that works as part of Open Cages and responds to reports related to the abuse of farm animals. In justified cases we notify prosecutors that we suspect a crime was committed.

We publish reports, brochures and leaflets on industrial livestock farming

Making good decisions wouldn’t be possible without access to knowledge on the conditions of animal husbandry and solutions that can be taken to resolve the problem.

We lobby for legislative changes to improve the situation of animals

We want the subject of animals to start to be taken seriously by politicians.

We run information stands

We go where people go - you can meet us at street stands, the biggest music festivals, school workshops or international conferences.

We teach how to easily prepare plant-based dishes

Because plant-based cooking means really tasty and healthy meals, and with a little practice it’s really easy.

We urge restaurants to provide a wider range of plant-based dishes

We’re making it easier for anyone that likes eating out to access meatless tasty dishes.

So that’s it in our brief introduction. We hope to run this blog regularly and keep you informed about our goals and achievements, but first of all we want to share our knowledge and experience, so maybe we can help other activists and organizations with similar goals. We hope that we can all share our ups and downs here, show you our successes and learn together from mistakes we’ve made.
 

Stay tuned and follow Open Cages and OpenBooks.com on FB. If we already inspired you, don’t hesitate to support us with a little donation, a piece of advice or volunteer work.  
- The Open Cages Team