The Vegan Report Winning Europe, One Victory at A Time. With José Luis Murillo | Ep. 106
Feb 3, 2026
José Luis Murillo, General Director of the Animal Welfare Observatory, leads campaigns to improve farmed animal welfare across Europe. He recounts winning nationwide cameras in Spanish slaughterhouses. He discusses pushing EU bans on cages and live transport, battling powerful agri-lobbies, persuading corporations reform can be profitable, and expanding focus to fish and shrimp welfare.
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Bring Localized Data When Lobbying Politicians
- Prepare deep technical knowledge and localized data before meeting politicians.
- Murillo says crossing institutional data with investigations and regional nuances wins credibility and access with lawmakers.
Combine Pressure With Pragmatic Negotiation
- Accept diverse movement roles: activists hold principled pressure while pragmatic NGOs negotiate incremental wins.
- Murillo says both approaches are needed and his group aims to be 'the organization the movement needs,' not the idealized one.
Trade Politics Can Be Leverage For Welfare Standards
- Global trade shifts and protectionism can both hinder and help welfare reforms via mirror clauses.
- Murillo sees tariffs and trade debates as leverage to require trading partners to meet EU welfare standards.