Expenses: *$2,096,220

Donations received: *$2,929,906

Assets: *$2,864,318

Headquarters: Chicago, IL *Financial information provided by the organization’s 2013 Other Locations: New York, NY IRS form 990. Columbus, OH 8

Dallas, TX

Website: www.mercyforanimals.org

Mission: Year Founded: 1999 “Works to be a voice for animals through proactive consumer education and advertising campaigns, research and undercover investigations, rescues, working with news media, and grassroots activism.”

Major programs: Key Staff:

 Advocates for the total elimination of animal  Nathan Runkle, Executive Director and agriculture, promoting a vegan lifestyle. Founder  Sponsor of 2011 “Farm to Fridge Tour” promoting undercover videos of “factory farms”.  Jake Morton, Director of Operations  Hosts the website ChooseVeg.com, a provider of  Matt Rice, Director of Investigations vegetarian and vegan eating guides, recipes and  Ari Solomon, Director of Communications reasons to switch to vegetarianism.  Jason Smith, Hired “Investigator” on Ohio Dairy  Representatives seek undercover employment at Farm farms and processing plants to obtain illicit video (Also hired by HSUS for farm footage in footage and photos. Vermont)  Websites include MeatVideo.com, VegGuide.org and FowlPlayMovie.com.

Quotes from Mercy for Animals Staff

“It’s quite common that farmers don’t have respect for animals and use them as a commodity.” –Heather Patrick, MFA Chicago Campaign Coordinator HSUS Taking Action for Animals Conference, 2009

“Not only is animal abuse rampant in this industry, but the environmental impact agriculture has is very extreme and severe.” –Nathan Runkle, Executive Director “Talk at Google” presentation, 2013

“Often, MFA investigators will obtain jobs at a facility, as a maintenance worker for example, and then use pinhole-sized hidden cameras and audio recording devices to document what they see.” –Matt Rice, Director of Operations, about “undercover” photography on farms Veganconsultant.com, 2011

(Animal Agriculture Alliance, 2015)

MFA Undercover Investigations

Total videos: 42 Dairy: 8

Swine: 9 Poultry/Egg: 17 Other: 8

Recent undercover investigations: Purpose/agenda:

 “Walmart Cruelty” - video released May 6, 2015  Promote veganism. o Targeted Walmart pork supply  Pressure retailers/restaurants to make policy  “Gory Food Service” - video released March 14, 2015 changes and statements on animal welfare

o Targeted Gordon Food Service and product sourcing.  “Got Misery” - video released Sept. 16, 2014  Target popular companies (Walmart, o Result = Great Lakes Cheese adopted new animal McDonalds, etc.) the farm supplies in order to welfare policy reach large consumer audience.  “Slice of Misery” – video released Sept. 16, 2014  Influence current legislation o Targeted Leprino Foods, cheese supplier to Papa  Criticize production practices Johns, Pizza Hut and Dominos. Pay rate for MFA investigators:  “Egg McMisery” - video released Oct. 19, 2013 o Targeted McDonald’s egg supply  $800/week plus expenses

Common Trends:

 Undercover activist signs employee contract/agreement to follow company animal welfare policies and to report any concerns of animal abuse, yet fail to report concerns and often claimed to have participated in the wrongful actions.  Undercover “investigator” leaves employment weeks to months prior to video surfacing.  “Investigator” records alleged abuse for weeks to months without reporting concerns to law enforcement or supervisors.  MFA refuses to release full video footage, only what they have edited.  MFA uses celebrities to endorse the videos, such as Pamela Anderson.

Quotes from Mercy for Animals Staff on undercover video investigations

“Often, MFA investigators will obtain jobs at a facility, as a maintenance worker for example, and then use pinhole-sized hidden cameras and audio recording devices to document what they see.” –Matt Rice, Director of Operations, about “undercover” photography on farms Veganconsultant.com, 2011

Undercover investigators are the “special forces” of animal activism. They have to do “physically demanding work” and “wake up at 4” in the morning. But their work is bringing success because “the animal agriculture industry is running from us.” - Nathan Runkle, Executive Director and Founder National Animal Rights Conference, 2014

Undercover investigations are the “lifeblood” of the organization. - Nathan Runkle, Executive Director National Animal Rights Conference, 2011

“We use large-scale online advertising campaigns to bring video footage of factory farms to millions of people each year.” - Mercy for Animals website, 2015

(A nimal Agriculture Alliance, 2015)