Campaigns · Previous · 2019
The launch, alongside Extinction Rebellion.
Where it all began: 10,000 people, one march, and the occupation of Europe’s largest and oldest meat market.
Animal Rebellion is born
In 2019, Animal Rebellion — as we were then known — was formed to bring animals into the heart of the climate movement. The organisation launched with 10,000 people at that year’s Animal Rights March.
Smithfields
In partnership with Extinction Rebellion, we joined the October International Rebellion with an occupation at Smithfields — Europe’s largest and oldest meat market. For two weeks, a site synonymous with the meat trade became a plant-based food market and a stage for the conversation Britain wasn’t having: you cannot fix the climate without fixing the food system.
What it set in motion
The launch established the two ideas that have run through every campaign since: that the animal movement and the climate movement are one fight, and that ordinary people acting together — nonviolently, openly, and at scale — can put ignored truths on the front page.
The story didn’t stop here.
See what six years of nonviolent action built.