Feature: The Anti-Vivisection Alliance (TAVA)

Hi, we are Barb and Peter, the founders of The Anti-Vivisection Alliance (TAVA) here in Toronto, Ontario. TAVA helps out other animal rights (AR) organizations with setting up calls to action and sharing tips on strategies that have worked for us. We like to share this instead of keeping it a secret. We can all learn from each other and collaborations can make our fight for animal liberation stronger.

What is your organizations mission/goals? What small steps are taken to achieve these goals?:

The Anti-Vivisection Alliance (TAVA) is the founder of the annual Anti-Vivisection World Protest, dedicated to campaigning against animal testing. The organization works hard to drive impactful change through local and global events, strategic collaborations, and compelling calls to action, uniting advocates worldwide to champion ethical alternatives in research and uphold animal rights.

What is your favourite task/job to do for your organization? If you don’t have a favourite what is your least favourite? :

Barb especially enjoys being behind the scenes and creating content for TAVA social media. She also really likes coming up with unique ideas for actions and events. Peter enjoys doing outreach during events for TAVA and is darn good at it!

What challenges does your organization face?:

Money. We don’t have much of it. We pay for everything ourselves and through donations. It’s hard trying to grow our social media presence when we aren’t experts in this area. We would love a bigger support system to engage with our content and to participate in our calls to action.

Reflect on a recent challenge or setback. Did it bring a hidden blessing? Teach you/your organization resilience?:

TAVA created an email call to action and found all the appropriate emails; however, a bunch of them bounced back. We aren’t sure if the company blocked us or if the addresses were out of date but we had to pull it shortly after. It didn’t make sense to continue. It further reinforced the importance of resilience. We pivoted and promoted another organization’s call to action for the same cause.

What keeps you and your organization motivated?:

100% changing things for animals! Lots of campaigns require hard work but TAVA faces a bit of a different challenge with its goal because to see meaningful change will take years and years, whereas many campaigns have seen success in a short period of time, which is inspiring. It’s a very slow and long fight to end animal testing. We also cannot do this alone and need as many people involved as possible.

If you could have given yourself advice before you started or got involved with this organization what would it be?:

To be a bit more bold and take more risks. Barb likes to play it safe. Peter likes to take more risks. We are different in many ways and alike in others, which makes us a great team.

What past experiences prepared you to start or get involved with this organization?:

We were both AR activists for a few years before we started TAVA. This meant that we had attended many events and saw what worked and what didn’t. We were able to draw upon those experiences to try to create an amazing organization.

Who are your mentors or those who you learn the most from?:

While we very much admire famous vegans and activists, we are most inspired by those who are not well-known. Having limited resources, they stretch what they have as far as it will go. They get creative. They have to work twice as hard to raise money and produce engaging and compelling content online.

What milestones or traction have you achieved so far?:

TAVA started out as a small grassroots organization and while we technically are still that, we have also networked with and formed meaningful and important connections with activists and organizations around the world. We believe that this is what will help drive change for animals. In 2023, we held our first-ever Anti-Vivisection World Protest and 27 cities from around the world participated by hosting their own events in solidarity with us. Earlier this year, we had over 40 cities. Next year, we hope to reach 50.

Does your organization run on volunteers? What should someone do who is interested in volunteering for you?:

It’s just the two of us and we both have “real-life” jobs so it’s not easy but we wouldn’t dream of stopping this important work. We rely on volunteers for events and they always deliver and come through in the most amazing ways. If someone is interested in being involved for an event, they can reach out to us via social media. We also like to collaborate with individuals and organizations, both online and for actions.

What are 5 things you love about your personality?:

Barb:
– Compassionate
– Honest
– Resilient
– Impeccable attention to detail and wants everything to be perfect
– Deeply-feeling/sensitive human being

Peter:
– Hard-working
– Dedicated
– Loyal
– Professional
– Flexible

What’s something the organization plans for its future that people can be excited for?:

Our 3rd annual Anti-Vivisection World Protest on Saturday, April 26, 2025.

What do you give and receive from the community/public?:

We like to support other organizations by offering assistance with setting up calls to action. Quite a few have reached out to us about this. We also like to attend other organization’s events to show our support.

We held a fundraiser bake sale in July where 50% of the proceeds went to Wishbone Animal Rights Lab and the other half went to the winner of a draw. Several local vegan bakeries donated their pastries. This event brought the community together for a fantastic event.

Many have supported our fundraising goals for TAVA by purchasing T-shirts and donating to GoFundMe’s. We couldn’t be more appreciative.

We receive lots of support from other organizations.

What advice would you give others in your role (or other organizations)?:

It’s OK to make mistakes. Not every action or event will go smoothly and that’s OK. While it’s easy to become discouraged, remember who you are doing this for (the animals). Also, take time for yourself and don’t overdo it. A burned-out activist isn’t going to be very helpful to the animals.

What is something you would change about your organization or role (ie. location, leadership style, etc)?:

We actually did make a change in July by rebranding and changing our name and logo slightly. Our mission was also changed to reflect our growth, expanded reach, and bold vision for the future.

Share a fun/interesting fact about your organization! :

We didn’t plan to start this organization!

In the summer of 2020, our friend Betty was asked if she was interested in hosting an anti-vivisection demonstration in Mississauga as part of a one-time, larger worldwide event. She agreed and enlisted the help of Peter, who brought Barb on board as well. In September, we held a protest at a facility that we know for certain houses an animal testing laboratory. To our pleasant surprise, we had a fantastic turnout and it lit a fire in us, so to speak.

Over the following weeks, the more we discussed our event, the more we realized that we had an amazing opportunity to start this organization. At the time, none of the AR groups in the GTA were focusing specifically on animal testing and we were inspired to fill this gap. The three of us put our heads together and by October, TAVA was born. Sadly, Betty is no longer with TAVA but her valuable contributions have a long-lasting effect.

Follow The Anti-Vivisection Alliance (TAVA) on Instagram @to.antivivisection

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