Survey of Animal-Friendliness (Draft-In-Progress)

For an organization to have the results of their Survey posted on GiveFriendly.com, they must be a federally tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in the country in which it is headquartered.Additional requirements for the designations "Animal Lover" and "Animal Hero" are to be determined. Older survey results from organizations will not be included in the default view of listings. They must be searched for.

Organizations are awarded the following designations for meeting all of certain criteria: "Animal Friend" for statements marked "*", "Animal Lover" for statements marked "*" and "**" and "Animal Hero" for statements marked "*", "**" and "***."

• The organization does not discriminate in its campaigns or hiring practices against individuals on the basis of their race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, socioeconomic status, or national or ethnic origin.*
• All employees and volunteers responsible for abiding by the organization’s animal-friendly policies and practices have been and will continue to be made aware of them.*
• Any and all grants awarded by the organization are conditional upon the funds being spent according to the organization's animal-friendly policies and practices.*
• The organization does not engage in, fund nor condone the following:
  • animal experimentation or animal testing*
  • the surrender of animals to animal experimentation facilities when not required by law*
  • the trapping or recreational hunting or fishing of animals*
  • the lethal “culling” of animals*
  • the capture and killing or prolonged holding of animals for “research” or “scientific” purposes*
  • the use of animals in “entertainment”, exhibition, games or “sport”*
  • the breeding of animals¹*
• The organization uses and condones only "humane" methods of controlling “pests” when necessary.*
• The organization does not buy, sell, trade, serve, distribute nor endorse the purchase or consumption of the following animal products or byproducts or derivatives thereof²:
  • Real fur, excepting the distribution of donated, devalued fur (such as that marked with red paint) to impoverished individuals in cold climates and the use of fur that is found, donated or purchased from a charity thrift store as props in anti-fur demonstrations or as animal bedding*
  • Live animals from any source*
  • Foie gras*
  • Veal^3**
  • Eggs from battery-caged Hens^3**
  • Duck meat³**
  • Any freshwater or sea creatures^{3, 4***}
  • Any live-cooked animals**
  • Any animal-flesh***
  • Any eggs***
  • Any dairy products***
  • Wool***
  • Leather***
  • Cosmetic and household products test on animals***
  • Feathers***
  • Silk or bee products***
• The organization does not endorse, advertise, enter an affiliate agreement with, accept sponsorship from or publicly acknowledge donations from any company or organization that engages in the following practices…
  • Sells or promotes
    • fur*
    • foie gras*
    • veal from crated or tethered calves**
    • meat from factory-farmed ducks**
    • Canadian snow crabs**
    • live-cooked animals or species of sea creatures marked with a red fish on the Blue Ocean Institute’s “Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood”**
  • Experiments or tests on animals**
  • Engages in, funds or promotes trapping, recreational hunting and fishing, the lethal “culling” of animals or their capture and prolonged holding or killing for “research” or “scientific” purposes*
  • Buys, breeds, sells or trades live animals¹*
  • Engages in, funds or promotes the use of animals in “entertainment”, exhibition, games or “sport”*
  • Does not protect the welfare of animals in their care*
  • Is the target of an organized, animal-related boycott at the time (see KindChoices.org for a list)**
• Any mention of such companies or organizations by the organization that might be interpreted as an endorsement includes a statement of non-endorsement and a brief description of any current, organized, animal-related boycott of them. These criteria exclude businesses that only provide e-commerce tools or marketing or advertising services to businesses that engage in these practices and do not engage in them themselves are acceptable.**
• The organization does not malign the practice of veganism, nor endorse animal sources of any nutrient to the exclusion of vegan sources.*
• If the organization distributes nonvegan products as part of its programs, it allows donors to earmark donations to vegan programs.**
• The organization offers vegan (free of animal flesh, dairy, eggs or bee products or byproducts or derivatives thereof) alternatives alongside any non-vegan food that they sell, serve or distribute.**
• Whenever the organization publishes recipes, vegan recipes are included for each course given.**

Definitions

1. Animal Experimentation and Animal Testing: Any research of any sort using, in whole or in part, living or dead non-human animals, with the exception of (1) naturalistic studies, in which animals are observed, without interference, in their natural setting; (2) experimental treatment of uninduced illness in animals not captured or bred for this purpose, where it is determined that the risk of non-treatment outweighs the risk of treatment and without the specific expectation or intention of application to related human diseases and (3) studies involving cells taken from existing immortal cell lines or other sources that involve no new physical or psychological harm to animals⁵.
2. Fur: The skin and attached fur of any animal raised or trapped primarily for their skin. This includes the fur of Karakul lambs.
3. Hunting: The killing of wild or feral animals for any purpose other than to protect individuals from an immediate threat of death or severe injury or the euthanasia of an animal in severe, untreatable pain. Kind Choices must review an organization’s euthanasia policies and practices before designating them as an "animal friend."
4. Fishing: The killing of any fresh or saltwater animal. See hunting definition for exceptions.
5. Trapping: The use of any trap to capture or kill any animal, except for live capture for the purposes of animal rescue, spaying, neutering and relocation. Kind Choices must review these exceptions before designating an organization as an "animal friend."
6. Humane “Pest” Control Methods: “Pest” control methods that do not kill or hurt animals or cause them to suffer needlessly. These methods work by excluding, deterring, repelling or relocating animals. Contact Kind Choices for resources.
7. The Use of Animals in “Entertainment,” Exhibition, Games, or “Sport”: Any display of animals or performance or competition using animals, whether of a domesticated or wild species. An exception is made for guided educational presentations by sanctuaries approved by The Association of Sanctuaries, The American Sanctuary Association or Kind Choices’ advisors upon review.
8. Animal Breeding: The breeding of any animal, whether of a domesticated or wild species, for any purpose other than to increase the population of a threatened or endangered species in their natural habitat. Referring to such breeding or those who facilitate it as "responsible" is considered by Kind Choices as condoning animal breeding.
9. Statement of non-endorsement: A statement that the organization does not endorse a company or organization, nor its policies or practices.
10. Leather: The hide of any animal, with or without hair.
11. Wool: The hair of any animal.
12. Cosmetics and Household Products Tested on Animals: Such products made by companies that have not met the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ Corporate Standard of Compassion for Animals. Please refer to the CCIC's shopping guide for acceptable products.
13. Feathers: The feathers of any bird unless they can be determined to have been found and not taken directly from birds.
14. Silk: Threads from silk worms that are obtained by killing the worms before they can hatch from their cocoon and break the threads. Silk that can be determined to made of wild-harvested, spent silkworm cocoons is acceptable.
15. Bee products: Any product of beehives, including honey, bee pollen, propolis, royal jelly, beeswax and bee venom.

Notes

1. Under some conditions, an exemption to this criterion may be granted for certain species for such purposes as balancing ecosystems or composting organic matter. Please contact Kind Choices to request an exemption.
2. Kind Choices encourages all organizations to buy and sell only vegan foods as the most effective means of reducing animal suffering and death.
3. An exception is made for organizations serving or distributing donated food at no charge for the purpose of hunger relief when it is identified as donated and this policy is noted at distribution.
4. Kind Choices considers the consumption of freshwater and sea creatures to be especially cruel, environmentally destructive and unhealthy as it causes the most deaths of animals per pound of flesh, very often negatively impacts species’ populations and habitats and exposes consumers to dangerous pathogens and pollutants. Also, when organizations remove these foods from their menus at fundraisers or other events, those who would have chosen them may be more likely to try the vegan option(s) available instead.
5. Adapted from the Council on Humane Giving’s Health Charity Statement of Assurance form.