A big week for animal welfare
Celebrations and campaign progress!
Last week, FOUR PAWS UK in partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) held a reception in Parliament to celebrate the recent launch of the Government’s Animal Welfare Strategy.
As we celebrate 20 years in the UK, teaming up with the Government for this event shows just how far our mission has grown, and how much further we’re ready to go.
It was a fantastic evening, with a room full of animal welfare campaigners and parliamentarians from across the political spectrum coming together to celebrate animals, explore the strategy and commit to working to delivering the promises it sets out. We were delighted to be hosted by animal welfare champion Ruth Jones MP and to have the Animal Welfare Minister Baroness Sue Hayman address attendees.
We would like to thank you for using your voice to advocate for animals. More than 4,300 FOUR PAWS supporters wrote to their MPs asking them to attend, we had an amazing turnout with around 40 Parliamentarians in attendance, many of whom said they had received your emails. We will now be working with them and our NGO allies to support the Government in delivering this ambitious strategy.
Thankfully, we are already seeing progress, in February the Government launched a consultation into the use of cages for laying hens as part of their efforts to end the use of confinement systems as set out in the strategy and toward the end of last week they launched a consultation to end trail hunting. We will have an action going out shortly to encourage supporters to respond to the consultation, so keep your eyes peeled!
The week ended with another campaign win, with the Government finally releasing the response to the 2021 call for evidence on the fur trade as well as the Animal Welfare Committee’s report on the fur industry. This comes after more than 3,300 FOUR PAWS supporters wrote to the Secretary of State calling for these to be released. Both reports demonstrate that there is overwhelming evidence in favour of a ban on the import and sale of fur, and we will continue to call on the Government to throw its support behind a Fur Free Britain.
Overall, a very positive week for animal welfare. There is still much to be done, but with your help we will continue to give a voice to animals and help build a country that treats animals with respect, empathy and understanding.
