Applying effective altruism principles to animal welfare allows donors and advocates to identify the interventions that reduce the most suffering per dollar or hour of effort invested.
Applying effective altruism principles to animal welfare reveals that the scale of farm animal suffering is so large that relatively modest interventions can prevent enormous amounts of suffering. A single person who shifts to plant-based eating spares approximately 100 animals per year from factory farming conditions. Donating to top-rated animal welfare charities identified by Animal Charity Evaluators can prevent hundreds of years of animal suffering per dollar donated relative to less effective giving. The most neglected animals — those in wild ecosystems and aquaculture — may represent the largest opportunities for welfare improvement per dollar.