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Naturewatch Foundation - Advancing Animal Welfare
A general election is a critical period for all campaigners. As polling day approaches on 4th July, this is an important opportunity for us as an animal welfare charity to speak up for voiceless animals. If you are a regular follower of our work, you’ll know that in September 2023, we surveyed our supporters to ask them which animal welfare policies matter to them and, on that basis, we have already published our #Win4Animals Manifesto!
We are asking prospective MPs to:
- End animal testing by investing in Non-Animal Methods (NAMs) and delivering an ambitious phase-out strategy.
- Make wildlife count by making wildlife crime recordable and closing loopholes in the Hunting Act 2004.
- Break the Link between animal abuse and domestic abuse by giving law enforcement the tools to spot animal abuse in the home.
- Stop exploitation of pets by strengthening the regulation of dog breeding for profit and regulating cat and rabbit breeding.
- Ensure justice for animals by making it easier and cheaper for authorities to take action for animals.
With 85% of our supporters telling us that they think animal welfare will impact their election decision-making, so far in addition to publishing our manifesto, we have:
- Directly emailed hundreds of parliamentary candidates with details of our #Win4Animals manifesto and we’ve already received lots of encouraging replies!
- Attended the Animal Hustings in the UK Parliament to hear directly from each of the political parties (the day before the election was announced!).
- Joined coalitions of other animal welfare charities/organisations to campaign together for specific asks of the potentially newly elected representatives.
What’s next?
- With husting and doorstep chats on the cards, we’ve pulled together a handy list of animal welfare questions should anyone get the chance to speak to their local candidates about animal welfare! Download them here.
- We’ll continue writing to every candidate as they’re announced.
- We’ll analyse the political party manifestos.
- We’ll be at the Restore Nature Now march on June 22!
And when the new government is formed after July 4, we’ll be straight in touch with those successfully elected to ensure they know that animals are important and that there is a list of very important animal welfare actions on which we plan to hold them to account.
To find out more about our asks for animals this election, visit our dedicated General Election page.
Naturewatch Foundation remains strictly politically neutral and abides by the guidance laid out by the Charity Commission.
The post Animals are important at election time! first appeared on Naturewatch Foundation and is written by Morwenna.
