I’m a long-time GiveWell donor and an ethical vegan. In a recent GiveWell podcast on livelihoods programs, providing animals as “productive assets” was mentioned as a possible program type. After reaching out to GiveWell directly to voice my objection, I was informed that because GiveWell's moral weights currently don’t include nonhuman animals, animal-based aid is not categorically off the table if it surpasses their cost-effectiveness bar.

Older posts on the GiveWell website similarly do not rule out animal donations from an ethical lens.

In response to some of the rationale GiveWell shared with me, I also want to proactively address a core ethical distinction:

Animal-aid programs involve certain, programmatic harm to animals (breeding, confinement, separation of families, slaughter).
Human-health programs like malaria prevention have, at most, indirect and uncertain effects on animal consumption (by saving human lives), which can change over time (e.g., cultural shifts, plant-based/cultivated options).

Constructive [...]

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First published:
August 14th, 2025

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/YnL6prYQbaLz22mxe/psa-for-vegan-donors-givewell-not-ruling-out-animal-based

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