It was founded out of dissatisfaction with what the party considered to be animal-unfriendly policies of the First Balkenende cabinet, which rolled back a number of animal welfare laws.

Founded only three months before the elections, the party competed in 18 of the 19 constituencies, missing ballot access in Overijssel due to a clerical error.

In 2006 the party won their first seats in the Tweede Kamer, with Marianne Thieme and Esther Ouwehand being elected to parliament.

The party gained a lot of attention due to a number of prominent lijstduwers, such as Paul Cliteur, Maarten 't Hart, Kees van Kooten, Rudy Kousbroek, Georgina Verbaan and Jan Wolkers.

In consequent elections, the electoral support for the PvdD remained relatively stable, winning two seats in the Tweede Kamer in 2010 and 2012.

On 16 July 2019 Femke Merel van Kooten split from the PvdD caucus and continued as an independent member of parliament.

[13] On 8 October 2019, founder and longtime leader Marianne Thieme retired from the leadership and the Tweede Kamer.

Esther Ouwehand succeeded Thieme as parliamentary leader, and Eva van Esch replaced her as a member of parliament.

They see the constant emphasis on economic growth as one of the main reasons for the lack of animal rights and is to blame for the state that nature currently is in.

[19] Conversely, in its program, the party argues that the neoliberal economic policies are destructive and a "system change" is needed in order to build a more inclusive and equal society.

The Party for the Animals is the only one that courageously resists the massive lobby of the coalition of the municipality, big business, Rai and Schiphol.

He also remarked: "Instead of fixing these marketing images in stone for eternity, we would do well to preserve what is characteristic of the Netherlands: its beautiful medium-sized provincial cities.

Animal Politics EU has member parties in the Netherlands, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Spain.

[28][29][30] In 2021, a survey by Katholiek Nieuwsblad found that Catholic voters make up greater share of the PvdD's electorate than those of denominationally Christian parties such as CDA, ChristenUnie and SGP.