How to Improve Farm Animal Welfare
Many farm sanctuaries run their own online shops, selling branded clothing and accessories to raise money. Examples include The Retreat Animal Rescue, Surge Sanctuary and Tower Hill Stables.
A few items contain recycled polyester or elastane. If bought, launder in a microfibre filter (or just buy the 100% natural fabrics, far simpler!)
Every item from these shops comes with a story—sometimes even featuring the sanctuary’s real-life animal residents.
When you wear a sanctuary’s logo or animal design, you’re directly funding food, shelter, and vet care for animals on their land. Buying straight from a sanctuary is a simple way to give extra support, especially if you want 100% of the profit to go toward care.
Lovely Art Prints To Help Animals
Good Heart Animal Sanctuaries offers nice art prints, to benefit the wonderful work they do.
Little Gifts to Help a Worcestershire Farm Sanctuary
Baah-land is a wonderful sanctuary in Worcestershire, run by a devoted couple on a shoestring budget. You can help by purchasing this organic cotton t-shirt (also in green and for men), or treat yourself to a large shopping tote for your vegan groceries!
HeartCure Clothing (streetwear to help farm sanctuaries)
Heartcure Clothing stands out for its commitment to the vegan movement and direct support of farm animals. Based in Sheffield, Heartcure donates part of its profits to farm sanctuaries such as Surge Sanctuary and Friend Farm Animal Sanctuary. The brand’s designs are bold and ethical, printed on organic, cruelty-free materials.
They even use plastic-free packaging. Beyond clothing, Heartcure runs a vegan community centre in Sheffield, helping people connect and learn about animal rights.
This non-profit was set up by a vegan duo to help animals, and it can also offer wholesale orders for shops and social causes. You can even returned used items, and they will sell them on their Vinted account.
Viva! Clothing (organic clothing to help animals)
Viva! is a well-known animal welfare charity, known for its bold campaigns and clear voice for animals (it has been responsible for many supermarkets pulling poor-welfare meats from its shelves, after their investigations).
Everything in Viva’s TeeMill shop is organic cotton, made with green energy and sent in zero waste packaging. Find designs for men, women and children.
The brand’s shop stocks ethical clothing, from soft printed tees to hoodies, all with strong vegan messages. Proceeds support Viva!’s lifesaving work, which includes direct help for farm sanctuaries. Each purchase funds both investigations and the care of rescued animals.
Viva La Vegan – Clothing With a Cause
Viva La Vegan uses profits from their casual t-shirts to help Footprints Animal Sanctuary (set in 22 acres on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border that cares for almost 200 animals).
This brand’s shirts, hats, and hoodies all use catchy slogans and bold colours to get the word out. Their clothing is free from animal products and made in factories with strict ethical standards.
You can also buy beautifully illustrated gift cards. Printed on recycled card.
Vegan Outfitters – Supporting Farm Sanctuaries
Vegan Outfitters is a clothing brand that donates some proceeds of items sold to help farm sanctuaries and animal rescue missions. The playful slogans spread the vegan message, and the sanctuaries get funding to cover daily needs or emergency rescues.
This organic cotton tank top (also as a t-shirt) has so many benefits, it’s difficult to know where to begin! First of all, it’s a snazzy unisex tank top made from organic cotton, which is far better for the planet, wildlife and fresh water.
Plus it can be safely laundered, without releasing microplastics from the machine into the sea. Organic cotton also lasts longer, as the chemicals are not treated by fibres. And at end of use, it safely biodegrades back to the earth.
Now to the benefits of others. This tank top is made by a company that donates a portion of sales to various non-profits to help:
- Rescued barnyard friends (from the food industry)
- Plant wildflowers, to restore our meadows
- Marine creatures, via ocean charities
- You can also refer a friend to get a £5 discount for both you and them, and there are also student discounts available (10%).
This top is also printed to order, to avoid the colossal fashion waste in industry. And it’s also Fair Wear certified (a more stringent label than Fair Trade, which goes straight from the maker to the seller).
Wear it at the gym, out shopping or at summer parties—your message comes through every time. The simple cut and classic print make this tank easy to style. Match it with shorts, skirts or jeans for a day out.
Layer it under a jacket or hoodie when the weather cools down. It works at fitness classes or while you’re relaxing at home. You get endless outfit options from one staple.
Long-Sleeved Organic Cotton Tees
Its long-sleeved organic tees are ideal for chilly days, and make a great staple for any wardrobe. They keep their shape, resist pilling, and look sharp after wash after wash. Investing in quality basics means fewer replacements and less waste over time.
Simple never goes out of style. Vegan outfitters offer classic fits with crew necklines and tidy finishes. Neutral shades like black, white, and grey make it easy to mix and match. You’ll find soft earth tones too, helping you build a capsule wardrobe that suits any season.
Like it or not, the fact is that most people in England are not vegan (or vegetarian). So it’s super-important to focus on ideas to help our barnyard friends, who do sadly end up on the dinner table.
England has better farm animal welfare laws than most, but that’s quite shocking. As outside the certified organic free-range labels, there is lots to improve.
In Switzerland, Tilda is a cow who became national news, when she make a dramatic bid for freedom, from the truck carrying her to be slaughtered.
Swiss animal welfare artist Chantal Kaufmann made images from the photos that passers-by took. Tilda now lives in a sanctuary (that’s her above, the artist paying a visit).
What was surprising however, was the on hearing of the escape, the slaughterhouse manager was happy – and helped to transport Tilda to her new home. Showing perhaps that underneath, nobody really wants to do this job?
Matilda (the escapee pregnant pig)
When Pigs Escape is a non-profit documentary (contact to host a free public screening) that tells the story of Matilda, a pregnant pig who escaped an abattoir, by digging under a fence, while in a temporary outdoor enclosure (this happened at the same time as 40 cows made a bid for freedom in the US, though only two were saved).
The pig put in Matilda’s nose (to stop her digging) is now removed. She now lives happily in a farm sanctuary with her piglets!
The Story of Compassion in World Farming
Roaming Wild is the story of how the charity CIWF (Compassion in World Farming) was founded. It’s not a vegan charity, but was in fact founded by concerned dairy farmers, and has gone onto achieve huge milestones like banning fur farming and sow crates in the UK and educating on which labels to trust, and which food labels are rubbish.
Read our post on Compassion in World Farming’s campaign to get shops to take on its 6-tier food labelling system (consumers would then know which animal foods to avoid, if they eat them).
Anna and Peter started the world’s most successful animal welfare charity from a back room with few funds. Both born in the 1920s, they lived through World War II and married in the 1950s, then worked as dairy/chicken farmers in rural Hampshire.
After going vegetarian, they became aware of cruel battery egg and broiler systems, so set up a charity to help all farmed animals, believing everyone (no matter what their diet) would support them – and they did.
From challenging EU legislation to battling corporate giants like McDonald’s, this is a truly inspiring story of one humble couple, who decided they would try to help animals. They even challenged the British Royal Family to go free-range and also put animal welfare on the agenda of all major political parties.
Their most famed case was against an order of Catholic monks who were raising veal calves in crates not big enough to turn around in (Jesus would not be pleased).
They actually lost the case, but the resulting furore led to the banning of veal crates in the UK. An ‘ordinary couple with an extraordinary mission’, this book is also a story of 50 years of love.
Author Emma Silverthorn is the granddaughter of the founders of Compassion in World Farming.
She has worked as a writer and educator for over 12 years, her interests focusing on animal sentience, nature and the environment, as well as the effects of post-war agriculture systems on biodiversity and the lives of farm workers.
It’s perfectly possible to ban factory farming, it is already happening at grassroots level in the Californian county of Sonoma with a similar thing happening in Berkeley, near San Francisco. This is having a knock-on effect with Denver (Colorado) considering a similar measure.
Factories affected will have take into account number of animals, how long they are confined and how much pollution they cause to the local environment. The campaign also hopes to have a retraining of the local welfare officer, for better standards for anyone raising animals used for food.
How ‘Transfarmation’ Helps Barnyard Friends
The Swiss Transfarmation movement is a pretty exciting prospect, which removes the age-old ‘vegans vs farmers’ wars. Today with many people going plant-based, long-held family farms are in trouble (there is a high rate of suicide, as livestock and dairy sales plummet).
So this organisation does not judge. Instead, it offers training to help farmers make better income from new crops (say oats, a hugely profitable market, as presently most oat milk is imported). Farmers can then sell local plant drinks in returnable glass bottles.
The farmers make better income, they get to pass on their farms to relatives, and remaining animals live out their lives in peace, akin to a farm sanctuary. And no, they won’t go extinct if not over-bred, young animals will still be born, just in far fewer numbers.
If you have questions about farming without ‘farm’ animals, contact us. We are happy to advise, with no obligation. The goal is for you to be true to your self. Transfarmation
The site has wonderful stories of farmers who gave up farming animals to inspire. These include:
- A couple of beef farmers who run an organic permaculture farm and vegan cooking school.
- A Swiss couple who now grow oats on their farm.
- Another Swiss couple who grow chickpeas, to make local hummus!
Does ‘Humane Slaughter’ Exist?
We all hear the marketing of animals that have have been ‘humanely-raised’. This is true if the creatures are certified free-range. This means they had good lives, only coming inside when necessary, and generally being treated well by expert farmers.
But of course (even if using local abattoirs), an animal’s instinct is to live. So not only is the journey to the abattoir stressful, but of course killing any animal is never humane (even before stunning, the creatures are likely terrified, knowing what is about to happen).
And a lot of stunning goes wrong (and many laws let animals stay conscious for up to a couple of minutes, before they die).
One farmer (who grew up in India) drove his sheep to abattoirs for years. One day a few years back, he could not do it anymore. About to make £9,000 from selling lambs for meat, he instead drove 200 miles to an animal sanctuary, and rehomed them. Staff at the sanctuary send him photos!
A few years ago, a lorry accident ended up with pigs being injured on the roadside. But rather than being put to sleep or rehomed to sanctuaries, they were put back on the lorry (injured and traumatised), and sent to the abattoir, at the request of the supermarket, to ensure profit.
And this was a ‘high-end better welfare’ supermarket.
Meet a Middle Eastern (vegan) Prince!
A controversial law in England is that of religious slaughter, when animals are not stunned, in accordance with laws for the Jewish and Islamic faiths. Veterinary experts at Compassion in World Farming say this causes immense suffering.
The fact is that it’s perfectly possible for both faiths to be vegan, so no ritual slaughter is needed. It may be religious ‘law’ if you eat meat, but you don’t actually have to eat meat. So this can keep everyone happy, without breaking any faith traditions. Here are some helpers:
Prince Khaled bin alwaleed (above) is so passionate about the vegan lifestyle, he invests heavily in vegan brands. He previously lived a party-boy lifestyle with meat and several cars, and is now a simple-living plant-based environmentalist, his dad has even gone vegan!
Compassion in World Farming says that many ‘Halal’ meats are from stunned animals (so not compliant). While some supermarkets sell Halal meat, without labelling it properly. So people buy it, not realising that it comes from animals that were not stunned.
Jewish Plant-Based Recipes
Before cooking, read up on kitchen safety for people & pets.
After Germany, Israel has more vegans by ratio, than anywhere on earth.
- Mayim’s Vegan Table is a cookbook from Mayim Bialik, who plays a nerdy scientist in The Big Bang Theory. She’s as brainy in real life (degrees in neuroscience, Hebrew & Jewish studies).
- Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a sassy New Yorker, who began her career with a tiny cable TV show from her kitchen. This led to a cookbook deal, and she’s now a best-selling cookbook author.
- The Jewish Vegan is a recipe blog with recipes for Passover.
- Jewish Veg offers recipes by holiday (Hanukkah to Yum Kippur) and encourages to avoid animal skins for Torah scrolls. Watch the video Shalolom Begins On Your Plate.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כׇּל־עֵ֣ש זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאׇכְלָֽה׃
We pasted this (we don’t speak Hebrew!). It’s the Bible phrase:
Then God said: ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth. And every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29
Islamic Plant-Based Recipes
- Vegan Middle East and One Arab Vegan are nice recipe blogs, proving that this popular cuisine is suitable for Muslims worldwide. Also read our post on vegan middle Eastern recipes.
- Plant Based Arab is another nice recipe blog, by a man who is a part-Syrian Palestinian, born in Jordan. His site offers Ramadan recipes, and an e-book of Middle Eastern Recipes.
- Middle East Vegan Society is an organisation to support businesses transition to plant-based. It has info on being a vegan Muslim, a country guide and its own V-label certification (already used for over 50,000 products in over 30 countries).
Allah (God) will not give mercy to anyone, except those who give mercy to other creatures. Prophet Mohammed
Compassion in World Farming (helping animals everywhere!)
Compassion in World Farming is a wonderful organisation for everyone to support, whether you are vegan, vegetarian or omnivore. Founded by a couple of concerned dairy farmers (the fallout from losing a case trying to stop a Catholic-run vegan farm in Sussex, which later closed down), it has gone on to become the UK’s stop charity for better welfare in the farming industry.
Read the story of Compassion in World Farming (written by a relative to the founders) and also about CIWF’s proposed six food labels, for consumers to be given better choice to know which foods to buy, if they eat animal foods.
This is a charity that not only has clout, but has instrumented tremendous success. Here are just a few things that this marvellous charity has helped to do:
- Banned the live export of farmed animals (after a campaign lasting 50 years). They never gave up.
- Carried out undercover investigations, leading to better welfare for farmed animals
- Campaigned for animals to be recognised as sentient beings (capable of feeling pain and suffering).
- A ban on battery cages for hens in the egg industry.
- A ban on veal crates.
- A ban on sow (mother pig) stalls across Europe.
- A ban on fur farming in the UK
There are lots more ongoing campaigns, which you can read about and support on the site. The charity has many high-profile supporters including:
- Dame Joanna Lumley (actress)
- Peter Egan (actor)
- Dame Penelope Keith (actress)
- Rose Elliot (veggie cookbook author)
- Chris Packham (wildlife presenter)
- Deborah Meaden (businesswoman)
- Dr Marc Abraham (vet)
- Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (chef)
- Virginia MacKenna OBE (wildlife campaigner)
- Pauline McLynn (‘Mrs Doyle’ in Father Ted!)
How to Support Compassion in World Farming
Obviously either eat plants, or free-range organic foods if you eat animal foods. Other ways to support CIWF include:
Buy organic cotton clothing (t-shirts and sweatshirts and plastic-free shopping totes), all with slogans promoting CIWF). Everything’s made with clean energy and sent in zero-waste packaging. The same shop also sells other eco staples like reusable water bottles, with profits helping the charity’s essential work.
List CIWF as your chosen charity at easyfundraising. Then whenever you buy a product or service from participating retailers, the company donates to the charity on your behalf, at no cost to you. It does not affect loyalty points.
Buy The Pocket Companion Guide to the Countryside, written by a supporter who gives profits to CIWF. This makes a lovely gift too. It lists many plants and animals, Joanna Lumley is a fan and recommends buying a copy!
If you play the National Lottery, switch to their Compassion Lottery, which costs £1 and has prizes from £5 to £10,000.
Farm sanctuaries are not the same as ‘city farms’. They are places of safety and refuge, for farmed animals that often have been abused or neglected, others take in animals from farmers who have had a ‘change of heart’ and decided not to send animals for slaughter.
Over-breeding of all barnyard animals for the meat, dairy and egg industries leads to these creatures needing homes, if they do get rescued.
Farmed animals have legal rights. Most farmers welcome a friendly word. Or if no joy, you can report concerns.
The long-term answer to over-breeding is eating more plants. For now, farm sanctuaries play a crucial role in giving farmed animals a second chance, to live peaceful happy lives for the rest of their days.
The Benefits of Helping Farm Sanctuaries
Unlike city farms or zoos, farm sanctuaries usually operate on a shoestring budgets, for the sole purpose of ensuring that rescued animals live peaceful happy lives.
No longer seen as ‘commodities’, some farm sanctuaries focus on one species, others take in many creatures from cows and pigs, to sheep and goats, to chickens and turkeys.
Most people who run farm sanctuaries are volunteers, and welcome fellow volunteers and donations to pay for feed, bedding and veterinary care.
And of course rent for the land. Many farm sanctuaries are closed to visitors for the benefit of the animals, but often run educational campaigns alongside, to inspire people to eat more plants, when they read the often heart-warming stories of rescued animals.
Often local farm sanctuaries have inspiring stories to tell. Cows that have been rescued from neglect form loving bonds with carers, and pigs who had never felt grass, now play freely. In the USA, one chicken loves music, but ‘marches off in disgust’, if visitors sing to her out-of-tune!
The long-term benefits of farm sanctuaries, are to encourage everyone to see barnyard friends as creatures to have empathy for, over seeing them as ‘things’ raised for profit.
People who visit farm sanctuaries (or even support them and receive regular updates) all say that they end up feeling more compassion to our animal friends, which is especially important when raising the next generation.
Ultimately, farm sanctuaries are ‘beacons of hope’ for animals that have often been through hell, and now deserve a better life. Some even arrive here, after jumping off trucks en-route to abattoirs.
Reach out to farm sanctuaries near you. The volunteers that run them do amazing work, which makes a real difference to some of the most abused creatures in society.
Ways to Support Farm Sanctuaries
Enter the words ‘farm sanctuary’ at Find That Charity, to bring up a list of registered farm sanctuaries to donate to. There are many listed. So if you wish to volunteer locally, just add your county name to the search request.
Obviously all farm sanctuaries welcome financial donations (you can give anonymously if preferred through Charities Aid Foundation, remember to add Gift Aid if you’re a taxpayer).
easyfundraising is a good way to raise funds for free. It works with over 6000 brands (from ethical zero waste ones to popular brands like Amazon and Argos).
Basically once registered, you choose your cause (in this case a local farm sanctuary) then that company donates, each time you buy something that you were going to buy anyway.
If you buy a phone online, it works the same – but the farm sanctuary will receive £5 profit from the phone, over the retailer. This service covers everything from train tickets to air fares and from refurbished laptops to insurance.
So it’s a no-brainer way to raise vital funds. Just shop from the site or app, and each retailer pays a set fee or percentage, depending on their policy. Donations are sent to the charity every quarter, and using this service does not affect loyalty points.
Many farm sanctuaries also welcome quality donated goods including animal feed, bedding materials, eco (unscented) cleaning products and veterinary supplies. Some sanctuaries also welcome blankets and towels (no tassels) and old newspapers, ask what your local sanctuary needs.
Ask your local farm sanctuary if it would appreciate a donation to buy MudControl slabs, the premier brand used by farmers and equestrians, to turn muddy dangerous land into safe places to pass through, or eat hay. They are used with sand for easy installation.
Obviously all farm sanctuaries would welcome trained volunteers like vets and veterinary nurses, or anyone with skills in animal husbandry. But also they welcome volunteers who can offer other skills like cleaning, feeding the animals and building shelters.
If working as a volunteer gardener, use no-dig gardening to protect wildlife. If gardening alongside animal friends, learn more on pet-safe gardening (many plants grown for other creatures are toxic – like fruit pips/seeds, nuts, elder, borage and mushrooms).
Do research before planting food, hedgerows or trees near livestock (or equines and donkeys) as many plants (including yew, privet, laurel, buckthorn and holly) are not safe. Learn of trees/hedges to avoid near horses (including yew, oak and sycamore).
A Few Lovely Farm Sanctuaries to Support
Surge Sanctuary is set in 18 acres in the rural Midlands. It was founded by a group of friends from animal welfare organisation Surge. Londoners can support it by visiting Unity Diner.
Residents include lambs saved from becoming Easter lunch to pigs rescued from abattoirs – some animals even used to live on building sites). The shop sells pretty no-bone china mugs and illustrated calendars, to raise funds.
The Farm Animal Sanctuary was established nearly 40 years ago, when the founder saw sick and diseased animals offered for sale at a livestock market. She bought 60 of them and gave them urgent vet care, and the sanctuary has cared for hundreds of animals since.
The sanctuary costs £2500 a day to run and their funds are running out, so please sponsor an animal and leave a legacy in your Will. Its patron is Joanna Lumley.
Goodheart Sanctuaries gives home to over 300 rescued animals in 92 acres of rolling countryside between Worcestershire/Shropshire.
All residents have safe cosy places to sleep, and freedom to explore pastures and woodland (there are two large pools for waterfowl). This sanctuary’s shop sells no-bone china mugs featuring rescued residents!
Worcestershire’s Farm Sanctuaries
Worcestershire has several farm sanctuaries, where abused/neglected barnyard friends receive loving homes. Maybe it’s something in the Malvern water. All struggle financially.
- Baah-land has over 100 happy residents, and is run on a shoestring budget, by dedicated volunteers.
- The Farm Animal Sanctuary does wonderful work. One pig resident was found by workers on the M42, likely fallen off a trailer, on route to an illegal slaughterhouse.
- The sanctuary has its own lottery with a first price of £25,000. It’s also raising money on JustGiving to buy the farm it runs from (now for sale) to avoid having to transport the animals somewhere else.
- Goodheart Sanctuaries is home to over 300 animals in 92 acres of rolling countryside. There are also two large pools, for rescued waterfowl.
- Hillfields Animal Sanctuary offers refuge for 300 animals, who live out their days free from fear, neglect or cruelty.
Free Welfare Guides for Farm Sanctuaries
Whether you want to set one up (or already run one), The Open Sanctuary Project is a fantastic website where you can find care guides by species, all given by experts to help. You’ll find over 500 articles (including for other rescued creatures like parrots and donkeys).
American Farm Sanctuaries to Inspire
Farm Sanctuary is a safe haven for abused and neglected animals on both US coasts. Founded by former actor Gene Baur, who used to do ads for McDonald’s), the sanctuary began after he and others rescued Hilda, a ‘downed lamb’ left for dead on a heap.
Today this charity rescues thousands of animals, inspires visitors to go vegan and campaigns for both education and better welfare laws for farmed animals.
Both sanctuaries are home to cows and sheep that have ‘ran for their lives’ from slaughterhouses, pigs raised by schools for ‘future farmers’ and animals rescued from backyard butchers.
Hey Friend Foundation was inspired by Farm Sanctuary, started by Gene’s friend Tracey Stewart and her husband (TV presenter Jon Stewart). This menagerie of rescued animals are overseen by the resident ‘security expert’ – a peacock who honks when new people arrive, when not inspecting surrounding bugs!
Compassion in World Farming propose a new six-tier food labelling system, so consumers can easily know how each animal was raised:
- Intensive indoors – animals raised to minimum legal requirements (barren conditions, never going outside and often suffering overcrowding and mutilations).
- Improved indoors – animals kept indoors with slightly more room and better bedding, but still a sterile environment and not able to exhibit natural behaviours.
- Partially outdoors – animals live outdoors some of the time, but not enough to be certified free-range. Cows have access to grazing which helps to reduce lameness and mastitis
- Free-range – animals have constant access to outdoors (grass pasture for grazing animals) or rooting/scratching areas for hens to dust-bathe (also roosts for chickens and straw bedding for pigs).
- Organic – like free-range but more space (and less numbers), only slow-grown breeds and antibiotics are only allowed to be used for veterinary purposes.
- Pasture-fed – the same as above, but herbivore animals are fed on grass and vegetation, not cheaper grain.
Many farms and food brands are not happy about such labels, but CIWF are concerned more with animal welfare.
It has previously called out turkey and cream cheese brands for misleading labelling, showing images of ‘galloping cows’ and ‘outdoor pigs’ when in truth both were intensively-farmed.
Most eggs are not certified free-range (cage-free just gives a tiny bit more space, and male chicks are still ground up alive at birth, of no financial value – then sold to the pet food industry as reptile food).
Food Labels in England are a Mess
Food labels are a mess in England, with many people not even knowing the difference between free-range eggs and barn eggs, and not knowing how to tell if meat or fish is ‘sustainable’ or from factory farms.
Obviously if you eat plants, you are not eating animals. But the reality is that most people do eat animals at present, so clearer food labels would help.
Even if you eat meat, you likely don’t agree with factory farms, but most meat sold is from intensively-farmed animals, showing that labels are confusing.
In a nutshell, the only animal foods with good welfare (while they are alive) are certified free-range or organic or both (even better). And humane slaughter is not always the case, even if labelled so.
Recently, many people have called on RSPCA to postpone its RSPCA-Assured label due to welfare concerns. Red Tractor and The Lion Mark have a few add-ons for welfare (like banning pig castration and ‘enriched cages’ but neither offer much else.
RSPCA is a wonderful organisation that we are fortunate to have. There are not many countries where you can call up a charity at any time to report any animal abuse you see or suspect, and have trained officers turn up to help.
But at end of September 2024, Dr Brian May (a qualified scientist as well as Queen guitarist) and well-known campaigner against the badger cull (which he can argue on scientific grounds), resigned as vice-president of the RSPCA, something understood in an open letter by Chris Packham and Caroline Lucas (the former has also called for a pause on the scheme, pending further investigation).
Brian writes that he was heartbroken at having to make this decision. But felt he had no choice as not enough was being done (urgently) to address allegations from poor hygiene and overcrowding to sometimes physical abuse of livestock by farm workers.
