Priority two
Advocacy and Prevention
Animal welfare does not exist in isolation and the threats to animals are wide-ranging and complex. We must be part of a broader movement for societal change which improves the lives of both vulnerable people and vulnerable animals.
We must leverage our strengths: our size and scope of operations; our profile; our political access; data and insight from our hands-on rescue and care and our branch network; and our 200-year history of achieving legislative change to drive greater impact and to further the debate on animal wellbeing. We will continue to collaborate with domestic and international partnerships and networks, to ensure that animal voices are heard.
We know that many of the big challenges facing animals, from climate change to habitat loss, transcend borders and sectors, so our international work in partnerships and networks is key.
We have refocused our international strategy so we are using our long-established relationships with the global animal welfare sector to have the most impact for animals on the world stage.
We are seeing increasing commodification of animals, whether it is the extreme breeding of pets prioritising looks over welfare, the exploitation of animals in our food system or the use of animals in entertainment, exacerbated by social media which puts clicks ahead of animals’ needs. We need to change attitudes and behaviours to rethink our relationship with animals, recognising their right to individual lives with positive and fulfilling experiences.
As opportunities grow with new non-animal technologies, we will continue to work with individuals, institutions, professional bodies, and governments, both in the UK and internationally, to reduce the suffering of animals in science, improve their welfare and ultimately replace their use with alternatives. We will continue to be a strong and expert voice for lab animals helping to shape legislation, strengthen regulation and promote best practice here and around the world, ensuring robust ethical review that challenges whether and how animals are used.
We know that low welfare farming is the single biggest animal welfare issue in the UK and globally. The sheer numbers of animals involved creates a devastating and unsustainable level of suffering. We recognise that society can only tackle this issue by significantly reducing the number of animals farmed. Our new farmed animals and the food system strategy was developed through extensive research which included a benchmarking review of animal welfare organisations to identify successful strategies, alongside interviews with internal and external experts. It calls for a significant reduction in meat consumption by 2050, alongside urging those who choose to eat animal products to choose RSPCA Assured, to tackle this urgent welfare issue.
Alongside this, farmed animals need better protection now. We will campaign for improved legislation, policies and codes of practice and better enforcement which recognises that farmed animals deserve to be treated as sentient beings rather than commodities.
Advocacy and prevention are now one priority as two sides of the same coin. Prevention is in our name and runs through everything we do for animals. We now have a new three-tiered approach to prevention, which ranges from broad, awareness-raising advice and education to targeted and impactful interventions. We want prevention through life-long learning, with animal welfare taught in schools, but also reaching young people in other ways and offering opportunities for people to improve their understanding of animals and our relationship with them at every stage of their lives. Rethinking how we see and treat animals is central to building a better world for every animal.
We will continue to build on our position as a thought leader. Our annual Kindness Index provides a unique barometer of public attitudes towards animals and the annual Wilberforce Lecture is becoming a key moment in the calendar to convene diverse and important voices on animal welfare. We’ve produced key research, commissioning three reports into alternative proteins and the groundbreaking Animal Futures project. We will continue to build on this, sharing our expertise and learning from others.
How we build
A stronger future for animal welfare
Insight
We will leverage our expertise, profile, and data and insight to be at the forefront of driving human behaviour change, legislative change and policy change and lead society in the debate to re-imagine our relationship with animals.
Pet education
We will continue to play a leading role in the Pet Education Partnership, working with educators from the leading animal welfare charities to deliver key animal welfare messaging to primary age children.
Community
We will build a diverse, community-based movement with outreach, working in collaboration with partners, including our branches, to drive seismic global change for animals.
Support
We will provide early help and support to pet owners to prevent further animal suffering and provide targeted intervention to resolve cruelty issues to prevent future abuse of animals.
Digital systems
We will use digital to power our information, education and support services, so people can access what they need to support animals on any device at any time, providing engaging, accessible content based on the most-up-to date evidence and insight.
A focus on
Food and Farming
Low welfare farming is the single biggest animal welfare issue in this country and around the world, with the vast majority of animals farmed in systems that do not adequately safeguard their welfare. There’s an interdependence between animal welfare and biodiversity, climate change, pollution, health, food security, and livelihoods. Taking better care of animals is not only better for them, it is better for us and the planet.
Poor animal welfare increases the pace of climate change and animal agriculture is estimated to produce around 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases. The mass production of animals for food is also causing further deforestation and loss of grasslands leading to biodiversity loss. Keeping huge numbers of animals in overcrowded and cramped conditions, and using breeds that are genetically predisposed to poor health, increases the risk of disease spread, potentially endangering human health.
We all need a radically transformed, compassionate food system, which puts animal welfare, human health and protection of the planet at its heart. That means advocating for the animals being farmed now, while working with a broad range of stakeholders to drive systemic change.
We recognise that we can’t tackle animal suffering unless there is a significant reduction in the number of animals farmed and the amount of animal products we consume. We want to help redesign our food system, putting animal welfare at its heart, facilitating a significant reduction in meat consumption by 2050. We will introduce an evidence-based, bold reduction target for consumption of meat, fish, eggs and dairy to help drive the end of low welfare farming. Alongside this ambitious reduction in production and consumption, we will continue to encourage and inspire those who choose to consume animal products to choose higher welfare RSPCA Assured products.
We will also advocate for alternative protein sources - from plants or new innovations, such as cultivated meat, to drive a protein transition away from animal products. This could see a further reduction in the number of animals farmed beyond 2050. In transforming the farming system, farmers must be supported too, incentivising and supporting them to farm to higher animal welfare standards or transition away from producing animals. As the only welfare-based farm assurance scheme, RSPCA Assured plays a vital role in spearheading a move away from current low welfare farming systems. We have ambitious plans to continue to drive up the welfare of farmed animals and bring more farms under the RSPCA Assured scheme.
The levers and drivers of systemic and behaviour change are incredibly complex. This means we need to focus on partnership working, joining together with organisations across the spectrum, industry and governments to drive change.
International
Systemic, cross-border challenges are posing an increasingly significant threat to humans and animals. We want to create a world where global animal welfare communities are empowered and enabled to create a better world for every animal. We have a unique voice in the international community, bringing a strong and recognisable brand, scientific rigour, data and insight, and a rich history of influencing change.
We will build on our well-established and critical role convening organisations across the globe to work together as a catalyst for lasting change for animals. For example, we were a founding member of Eurogroup for Animals, which launched in 1980, and more recently the World Federation for Animals, as well as working with many other coalitions and organisations around the world. We work with many others and we play a crucial role in powering and mobilising these networks to improve animals’ lives. Joining together, we can avoid duplicating each other's work and instead combine forces for greater impact for animals.
This strategy is rightly ambitious to address the huge challenges we face for animals, so our international work is critical to delivering on what we want to achieve for animals. Effective and lasting networks will help us to address the most pressing issues facing animals worldwide. These issues, from climate change, war in Europe, factory farming and habitat loss, cannot be solved in isolation. We will build partnerships, both inside and outside the animal welfare sector, lending our strong voice, sharing our expertise and learning from others.