Andrew Leeke

Member Profile: Andrew Leeke

"Why is no one funding them? And then I thought, well, I guess I am the sort of guy who would be funding them. I had to put my money where my mouth was." -- Andrew Leeke

We recently spoke with member Andrew Leeke from London, UK. He shared with us his journey to taking The Giving What We Can Pledge, what helped him make the decision, and what she'd say to people considering a pledge.

How did you hear about Giving What We Can?

, and then I thought, "this guy's onto something". Where else can I read more about this? I then read one or two of 

's books straight after this -- back-to-back reading on holiday. By the end of those three books, I was convinced. I was like: "let's get me started".

The reasons that Peter Singer and Will MacAskill covered in their books about how 

some charities are just so much more effective than others

 (in terms of what they actually do per pound spent motivated me). I first thought: "Well, these charities are great, and why is no one funding them?" And then I thought: "Well, I guess I am the sort of guy who could be funding them." I had to put my money where my mouth was.

I was working at my first job, and I suddenly had some money, probably more money than I knew what to do with. Not that I was earning a huge amount, but going from not earning any money to now having some disposable income definitely felt like I had more than I needed.

Reading about how other people have made similar commitments or the same commitment definitely helped me make that decision. If I thought I was the only person doing that, I'm not the sort of self-starter that would've made that decision myself.

I don't think I needed a huge amount of convincing after I stumbled across Giving What We Can; I think it certainly helped that a lot of people had taken the pledge at that time already.

What would you say to someone who is on the fence about taking The Pledge?

. I think it's a very fulfilling, meaningful thing to do for oneself. Let alone for the consequences it has for others. Thousands of people have done it without regret, and you could be one of them.

You won't regret it, and you'll have something that you can always fall back on as some way that you are making a difference to others in the world. It's a lifelong commitment, so it's definitely not something you should do without consideration, but yeah, if anyone's on the fence, I would just advise them to get off the fence and take The Giving What We Can Pledge.

Surbhi Bharadwaj

Effective animal advocates also care about other groups of animals, including the dogs, cats, and other animals we keep as pets, and those that live in shelters or in our streets. However, advocates are likely to prioritise intervening in factory farms and the wild first, because the scale of those problems is enormous, and the causes are relatively tractable and quite underfunded.

Do effective animal advocates only care about farmed animals?

This article is part of a series addressing 

Animal advocates in the effective altruism movement (or “effective animal advocates”) typically care a great deal about farmed animals. Globally, about 

 animals are farmed for food each year, mostly in factory farms. In the U.S., 99% of animals used for food live in these industrial complexes. The high number of farmed animals, together with the relative tractability of reducing suffering that is caused by humans in the first place, makes farmed animal advocacy a high-impact cause area.

However, effective animal advocates don’t 

 care about farmed animals. They also care about wild animals who suffer due to human activities or nature’s indifference, domestic animals in shelters, animals in labs, animals used in entertainment, and so on.

Farmed animal advocacy is an attractive cause area for effective altruists, who generally prioritise their work according to 

. There's no denying that the scale of farmed animal suffering is enormous.

 land animals are slaughtered in factory farms. Most factory farmed animals live awful lives. They:

 to grow larger than they naturally would (sometimes their legs cannot support their bodies)

Advocating for farmed animals is more tractable than advocating for certain other groups of animals, because the suffering of farmed animals is inflicted by humans. If humans can cause so much suffering, we should presumably be able to stop!

There's also a great need for more funding and advocacy and on behalf of farmed animals. In the U.S., only about 

 of charitable contributions support animals and the environment, combined. Of that amount, the 

 of animal charity donations support animal shelters, though animals in shelters are vastly outnumbered by other groups.

However, effective animal advocates don't just care about farmed animals. Another burgeoning area of interest is helping wild animals. With countless animals suffering in the wild, the project of helping wild animals is even larger-in-scale than advocating for farmed animals. It's also in greater need of funding and other resources.

Like farmed animals, many wild animals suffer because of human activity. For instance, 

 fish in the wild are caught and killed by humans each year. Fish caught by 

 are chased to exhaustion, goaded into industrial nets, and compressed and suffocated 

. Ending (or reducing) fish trawling would be a relatively tractable way to help a lot of animals.

Of course, not all suffering in the wild is caused by humans. Many wild animals suffer from disease, parasites, hunger, dehydration, stress and anxiety, accident and injury, extreme weather and habitat destruction, predation and premature death. Whether we can alleviate this suffering, and how we may be able to intervene, is an area of 

 in the effective animal advocacy community.

donating to highly-impactful organisations working to improve animal welfare

Common Concerns About Donating to Charity

Andrew is a member of Giving What We Can. He works for 

, helping EA organisations run efficiently.

Andrew works for the Centre for Effective Altruism, helping EA organisations run efficiently.

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Member Profile: Andrew Leeke

Do effective animal advocates only care about farmed animals?