Rich Hardy has been going undercover for animals since 1999. Vegan since childhood, he got into campaigning for farm animals after being dropped by a professional football club. A former campaigner and lobbyist at Veganuary and Compassion in World Farming, he turned to undercover assignments as a route to be a more effective advocate for animals. By learning how industries that use animals for food, fashion, science, and entertainment work from the inside, he has been able to help campaigners generate campaigns that expose their weaknesses. A specialist in infiltration projects, he has undertaken nearly 100 assignments in 28 countries for more than 20 global animal protection societies. He advises and guides campaigners on how to do investigations, what to investigate and how to tell transformational stories as part of public-facing campaigns.
His experiences of working undercover for animals over the past two decades have recently been published with the release of his first book "Not As Nature Intended" (Unbound, 2020) Normally reclusive, he recovers from investigative assignments by surfing the waves off Cornwall, a small peninsula in the far southwest of England, exposed to wild North Atlantic swells.