Trigger Events as Catalysts for Pressure Campaigns
How to apply maximum pressure at the right time.
Trigger events are situations that occur for an entity (government, non-profit, for-profit company, or individual) that thrust a crisis into the public eye. These events can happen naturally or by creation, and they can then be used by activists as catalysts for change.
I first heard the term “trigger event” from Robert Grillo, so credit for the idea goes to him. This post examines examples of trigger events and explores how activists can leverage them in pressure campaigns.
Pressure campaigns are when activists target a particular industry, company, or individual with a clear demand using a variety of tactics, some of which will be illustrated and listed below. Books have been written on pressure campaigns, so I will keep my focus on how trigger events can catapult a pressure campaign forward. For a brief intro, Jake Conroy has a great video summary of pressure campaigns here.
Naturally Occurring Trigger Events
The extreme confinement on factory farms is a breeding ground for diseases and pathogens including avian influenza. In factory farms, if one bird tests positive for avian flu, the entire shed is killed, sometimes the entire farm. This has resulted in hundreds of millions of birds killed in the animal agriculture industry within the past few years. Instead of reducing the number of birds on farms, decreasing their confinement, or supporting alternatives to farming birds, the United States government handed out over $1 billion as bail out money to farmers. Normally, if a business makes poor decisions, they pay the cost and perhaps file for bankruptcy, but not for chicken farmers. The government hands them money so that they can continue with their malpractice. No need to learn from mistakes or fix any issues.
Free From Harm took these bailouts as a trigger event. Free From Harm confronted government officials on why they are sending billions of dollars to bailout a failing business, often by disrupting speaking events of decision makers in the government. The goal was to hurt the chicken industry by reducing their income, using the bailouts from avian flu as a catalyst for their goal.
Angela Davis, a black liberationist and vegan, used the murders of black people by the police in California in the 60s as trigger events to open up public discourse on the violence against black people. A single murder might lead to multiple mass protests, interviews, news articles, marches, and court battles. Each round of murders brought more pressure onto authorities to stop the violence, and won more hearts and minds of previously indifferent white people. We see similar trigger events today in the human social justice space with the killing of George Floyd or Renee Good galvanizing people and sparking entire movements.
San Diego county has many rodeos. However, Padres Rodeo found itself in the spotlight by forcing a pregnant horse named Pearl Necklace to “perform.” 15 minutes after she was forced to buck a “cowboy,” she collapsed. She died along with her 11 month old, unborn child. Strategic Action for Animals (sxfaorg) used Pearl’s spotlight as a trigger event. The public was already aware of the situation, sympathetic to the cause, and sxfaorg turned up the pressure. Sxfaorg got multiple sponsors to withdraw support for the rodeo and stopped the city of San Diego giving $150,000 of public funds to Padres Rodeo. Much of the history can be seen on sxfaorg’s Instagram.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. These examples illustrate how trigger events come into the spotlight. Avian flu, police killings, and deaths at rodeos are naturally occurring in that activists did not make those events happen. However, trigger events can also be created by activists. Many atrocities are kept hidden because the entity or individual knows what they are doing will reflect poorly on them should they be exposed. We do not have to wait for an event to naturally unfold. Events can be manufactured and pushed into the public spotlight.
Manufacturing Trigger Events
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) repeatedly investigated Predue’s Petaluma Poultry for criminal animal abuse. DxE found “birds collapsed on the floor or stuck on their backs and unable to walk to food or water, left to slowly starve to death, as well as infectious diseases that threaten public health”. Such abuse and neglect are illegal in the state of California. Yet, despite DxE’s repeated attempts to get the authorities to punish criminals, corrupt government officials including Sonoma County’s DA Carla Rodriguez have done nothing but ignore hard evidence against Petaluma Poultry.
DxE created their own trigger event through these investigations. The campaign pushed criminal animal abuse into the public spotlight. To name some of the tactics used:
Rescued injured chickens from a Petaluma Poultry facilities
Organized mass protests and disruptions against Trader Joe’s, who is a major buyer of corpses from Petaluma Poultry
Pressured Chef and author Tyler Florence to cut ties with Petaluma Poultry
Ran a ballot initiative in Sonoma County to ban all factory farms in 2024 (unfortunately the initiative failed to get enough votes)
These events and others have spawned dozens of major news outlet articles, evening news segments, public street marches, social media discussions, and letters to newspapers. In terms of putting the right to rescue, the basic welfare of farm animals, and clear proof of corrupt government authorities in the public eye, this campaign has been a wild success.
When I say a trigger event being manufactured, I mean the event was exposed by animal activists. Activists did not create the abuse or situation, but discovered the issue and forced it into conversation. With DxE, they used the evidence from undercover investigations as a trigger event to force Petaluma Poultry’s criminal animal abuse into the public arena. DxE uses every tactic of a pressure campaign to bring down Petaluma Poultry all starting with a trigger event they exposed.
MLK Jr. similarly forced the injustice that happened to his people into public discourse with his demonstrations. It was all too easy in the 50s to turn a blind eye to the abuse of black people if you were white. So MLK Jr. exposed the violence black people experienced daily in newspapers and TVs. He brought bus loads of black people to Birmingham, Alabama for protests. The violence of the police was so heavy handed, it could not be ignored any longer by the larger white public. MLK Jr. created his own crisis, his own trigger event, and used the media to spread his message. The pressure became too great even for the racist business owners and mayor of Birmingham, and they caved, ultimately expanding the rights and dignity of black people across America.
How We Use Trigger Events
Animal abusing organizations and individuals do not want to be in the spotlight for their abuse. Hence, it is imperative activists force the abusers into the public’s attention for as long as possible to help create the change the animals need. Trigger events, whether created by activists or naturally occurring, can be used as catalysts to damage or end these industries.
Activists can watch/create, evaluate, and act.
Watch/Create: Regularly scroll through the news for anything animal related. Examples include puppy mills exposed, a horse pulling a carriage downtown collapses, pet stores neglecting care for their animals, viruses and other pathogens running rampant in your area, slaughterhouse worker strikes or injuries, animal abusing companies sued, and so on. These are all potential trigger events.
You could set up google alerts for keywords in the news or ask friends and family to keep an eye on the news for such events.
Trigger events can also be manufactured. Watching and waiting is not necessary if you have an issue the public would rally behind once exposed. MLK Jr. called this creating a “crisis”. Manufacturing crises work best on issues the industry or a company wants hidden from the public. If a target is doing something wrong and trying to cover it up, that is a clear indicator that this situation is ripe for exposure as a trigger event.
Evaluate: Are events you found serious enough to be mentioned in the news? Is there enough outrage or can you cultivate enough attention to damage the entity hurting animals? Are you or your group able to take this campaign on with some reasonable expectation of success?
Success can take on a variety of forms, but it should be defined so that you come forward with a clear demand. For some, simply educating the public is a major step, such as ventilation shut down where Iowa farmers roasted pigs alive by turning their sheds into hot gas chambers overnight. In the fight against foie gras, the ultimate form of success is the complete removal of foie gras across the world, but each time a restaurant, grocery store, or distribution center removes foie gras, that is a victory worth celebrating. You may not know how a trigger event will land with the public and lead to success, so experimenting might be required.
If you are alone without an animal rights group, continuing the conversation in the public eye could be enough to spark greater investigations by authorities. Solo activists can write letters to the editor or speak to the city council.
Act: Take action. Copy many of the tactics outlined in this essay. Be creative with new activities that fit your situation. Mix actions up. Never let your target know what you are going to come at them with next. Here is an overwhelming list of actions to consider, simply to illustrate there is much we could do with a trigger event to launch us into a pressure campaign:
Write letters to companies or their sponsors
Pressure insurance companies to not cover your target
Ask owners of the property your target rents from to kick your target out
Contact authorities if a crime happened or enforcement agencies like the USDA if applicable
Invite the news out to demonstrations
Write letters to the editor
Loud, noisy, disruptive protests
Silent protest with tape over your mouth
Flyering
Start a ballot initiative
Contact storms (call your target repeatedly or comment on their social media in mass)
Chalking outside stores
Hold a banner across a highway
Disrupt shareholder meetings or speaking events
Yard signs across town
If you have money, a billboard
Hang flyers on the doors of the neighborhood of the key decision makers of your target
Disrupt speeches or grand openings
Speak at city councils on banning or limiting a particular product or “show”
Anything else that would keep the public’s attention on the issue and put pressure on your target
Direct action and civil disobedience have a history of getting results. Direct rescue of victims under the cover of night, open rescue, chaining yourself to an entrance (Animal Equality recently did this against Ahold Delhaize), and so forth. Note these types of tactics need to be weighed against their effectiveness on the outcome given they involve risk. It is hard to do activism from jail.
A Final Example Showing the Process
Backdrop: North Carolina has the country’s third highest shelter dog euthanasia rate . Most North Carolinians do not know this statistic. I wanted to educate the public on this crisis by manufacturing an event.
Creating the Trigger Event: I manufactured a trigger event holding a memorial service for dogs euthanized in shelters in front of a soon-to-open puppy store named Waggles. The event involved taping pictures of dogs to represent those who have been put down in shelters across North Carolina, laying flowers out, and giving speeches on the horrors of the puppy mill industry.
Evaluate: The local animal rights group that I am a part of, NC Animal Advocates United (NCAAU), was already running anti-puppy mill and anti-puppy store campaigns by having the issue in the public eye with protests, evening news interviews, news articles, and city council discussions. Creating another angle to get the issue into the public discourse made sense.
As an organizer, I’m always thinking of how everyone in NCAAU can have a role. This unique type of event could bring out folks not comfortable with protests or public speaking, which NCAAU has many such individuals.
Action: The memorial service was recorded and created into a social media post.
This post is our highest viewed, liked, and shared post by far. The post helped educate the public on the issue, framed Waggles in a poor light for their contribution to the death of dogs, and grew our social media base. Beyond that, for the individuals involved in the memorial service, this was a powerful moment reminding us of the reality for many dogs in North Carolina shelters.
Reflect and Prepare
Consider 2025. Were there any situations in your area that were potential trigger events? Make a list. Evaluate each event as if you might go after the target at that time. What would your game plan have been? What actions could you have taken?
I’ve only been involved in the movement since 2020. Animal rights veterans have said that the height of the movement was in 2019, before covid hit which disrupted all progress. Rumors are that the movement is almost at 2019 levels, more diversified in strategies, and more unified in vision.
There has never been a better time to be involved. Armed with this knowledge, keep a look out in 2026 for trigger events. Be prepared to act. Launching off a trigger event is a proven way to create change.