Purpose/Background.

Our objective was to characterize pro-animal activism and the popular and academic conception of animal protection movements in Brazil from the perspective of bioethics, listing the arguments and vulnerabilities.

Methodology/Approach.

The research is characterized as having a mixed approach (quali-quantitative) involving three dimensions: a) mapping of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and pro-animal social movements; b) analysis of popular opinion regarding the performance of pro-animal movements; c) integrative literature review on pro-animal social movements.

Results/Findings.

Activism was characterized by pro-animal NGOS and social movements, which, although they share the interest in animal protection, differ in language, processes and ideologies that compromise the synergy of efforts. The vulnerability of activism is linked to the need to engage society and the barriers to entering academia. The vulnerability of the lay public lies in the need for instrumentalization to access information from both activism and science to support conscious decisions in the relationship with non-human animals. Finally, the academy also presented vulnerabilities linked to credibility and social adherence and activism regarding its processes that are guided by legal and methodological norms that attest to its suitability.

Discussion/Conclusions/Contributions.

The academy emerged as the axis able to mediate the debate and deliberation of animal protection together with society and activism. Bioethics with its ethical assumptions, dialoguing and multidisciplinary nature, active in the spaces of ethics committees, presents itself as a skillful tool in overcoming communication noise.

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