Mercy For Animals Reviews

When I started at MFA it was a fun, creative, innovative work environment. The organization was making very real changes in the farmed animal space. Undercover investigations were released often, lawsuits against animal abusers were filed, and corporate victories were frequent. Furthermore, the leadership of the organization supported the mission and empowered employees. Over time the organization’s culture crumbled. There were sexual harassment scandals and constant leadership shakeups. To make matters worse, MFA’s founder and current board President has created a culture of fear. In one full sweep he removed the leadership that cared about employees and the mission, and replaced them all with corporate cronies who could care less about making difference for farmed animals. What’s more, this current leadership laid off staff while giving themselves raises and promotions, and have furthered Milo’s culture of fear. Additionally, the HR department and current President failed to take action when an American employee made blatant racist remarks about staff in Mexico on an organizational wide call. They also dragged their feet when multiple staffers filed complaints about another staffer who assisted a known sexual predator spy on his victims. Quite frankly, it’s appalling that a social justice group would allow these things to occur. During my time at MFA I watched countless devoted activists who cared deeply about making a change for animals be bullied, harassed, lied to, and essentially pushed out of the movement. Current leadership is power hungry, egotistical, and self serving. If you care about helping animals I would NOT recommend working at MFA ... I honestly don’t even think anyone in leadership cares about the mission — including MFA’s founder, Milo Runkle.

I’ve seen this organization permit and propagate bullying, racism, employee targeting, and gaslighting; truly shocking from a place that calls itself a social justice organization. Additionally, as others have mentioned, in a year where funding plummeted due to scandal and a subsequent major deterioration of the org’s reputation, senior leadership laid off entry-level staffers making humble salaries while promoting themselves and giving themselves raises. It’s beyond the pale. In other nonprofits, leaders making the most have been known to take pay cuts in lean years to ensure no one loses their jobs. MFA does the opposite. To make matters worse, in their 2019 restructure (the second major one in under a year) they demoted longtime staffers for no reason other than it didn’t fit their “business model.” This created a level demoralization and confusion I’ve never encountered before in my professional life. The inept and tone deaf senior leadership team keep saying everyone is happy and things are great according to their surveys. I don’t believe it. I’ve heard from many people still employed at the organization who are completely beat down and scared to death of losing their jobs, especially in the wake of the lay-offs. What’s more, seven staffers have quit in just the last two weeks. I’ve never seen a leadership team be so out of touch, act with such negligence, and treat its staff so poorly. It’s devastating and totally beneath the animal rights movement.