Recognising that humans do not currently include non-human animals (herin-after referred to as “animals”) within their sphere of legal, political or moral rights-holders, and recognising further that because most humans do not generally respect animals for their inherent value, ARA has amongst it’s primary objectives, the following:

• To promote the philosophy of animal rights and ethical conservation in order to show that animals, plants and other natural phenomena such as wilderness areas, etc. have an inherent value, which is independent of any value which humans attach to them.
• To show that animals exist in their own right and are not, individually or collectively, whether wild or domesticated, a means to human ends.
• To campaign for animals to be treated with the respect to which, as individuals, they are entitled by virtue of possessing inherent value.
• To campaign for abolition of the “property status” of animals, and the acknowledgement by individuals, corporations, institutions and the state that animals cannot be “owned”.
• Recognising further that animals are suffering physically and emotionally as a result of the abuse and exploitation to which they are subjected, the Organisation, in terms of its secondary objectives, undertakes to do all in its power to end this suffering by means of the following:
• Informing the public with regard to the specific and related consequences of institutionalised abuse and exploitation of animals by conducting education and training programmes, and by promoting exhibits, seminars, workshops and relevant publications.
• Promoting the broader objectives of ARA by conducting outreach and advocacy programmes
• Rescuing animals from exploitative and abusive situations whenever this is possible, and placing such animals with human individuals or organisations most capable of taking the best care of such animals, which necessitates direct involvement in rescue, sanctuary, rehabilitation projects as well as providing support for in situ ethical conservation and animal care projects.
• Maintaining a campaign encouraging humans to adopt a vegan (cruelty-free) lifestyle by raising public awareness and encouraging consumer action.
• Initiating projects and campaigns that will highlight specific types of animal abuse, exploitation and neglect and implement measures to end these.
• Lobbying and working to influence processes of policy decision-making at all levels of government.
• Undertaking investigations and research in support of the ARA objectives.

The primary and secondary objectives of ARA are informed by the promotion of inclusive justice , showing compassion across species and building a better future for humans and animals in South Africa and other African countries through research, analysis, programmes of action and targeted interventions premised on the understanding that there are strong links between the struggles for earth, animal, and human liberation and rights and that change in South Africa cannot occur in isolation from the broader global context.