The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was founded in 1824 and is the world’s oldest animal protection organisation. The RSPCA's mission is to “... prevent cruelty, promote kindness to and alleviate suffering of all animals”. In England & Wales our 340 animal protection inspectors investigate animal cruelty, advise owners on appropriate care of animals and rescue trapped, lost or injured animals. Our 50+ animal centres take in and treat more than 120,000 companion and wild animals annually.

RSPCA International is responsible for multilateral relations, policy development and programmes and is active in around 30 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. We work with multilateral partners such as the OIE and FAO, government departments, animal protection/conservation/development NGOs, commercial companies, academic institutions etc - to deliver a programme of aid, training and consultancy to promote the development and enforcement of animal protection and wildlife law, animal welfare education, animal rescue and rehoming, humane dog population management, laboratory animal welfare, improvements in the rearing, transport and slaughter of farm animals, and animal welfare components of CSR policies.

Our Science Group consists of 40 animal welfare scientists and technical staff whose work encompasses four areas of concern: companion, farm, wild and laboratory animals. We aim to improve the lives and reduce the suffering of farm animals by: aiming to have all UK farmed animals kept to RSPCA higher welfare standards; improving farm animal welfare legislation and ensuring it is enforced; encouraging consumers to replace meat, eggs and dairy products with those from higher welfare production systems; ensuring animal products are properly labelled so consumers can make higher welfare choices.

RSPCA Assured is the world’s largest high welfare farm assurance and food labelling scheme. Under the scheme 50% of the UK’s laying hens, 30% of pigs, and more than 80% of farmed salmon are reared to the RSPCA’s farm animal standards. The RSPCA leads the AssureWel international project to implement, monitor and assess the application of Welfare Outcome Assessment to high welfare farm assurance schemes across Europe.

RSPCA International has been actively working on farm animal welfare in China since 2005 when we partnered Compassion In World Farming and the Ministry of Commerce’s Meat Hygiene journal to hold the first farm animal welfare conference in China, ‘International Forum on Animal Welfare & Meat Safety’. In 2006 RSPCA International and Humane Society International signed an agreement with the Chinese Animal Husbandry and Veterinary News to produce the Global Animal Welfare Bridge, a special feature page dedicated to bringing the latest developments in farm animal welfare to a Chinese readership. In March 2008 the two-day conference ‘The Importance of Farm Animal Welfare Science to Sustainable Agriculture’ was hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Rural Development Institute. It was jointly funded by the RSPCA, Compassion In World Farming, the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Humane Society International and the European Commission, and attracted around 140 animal husbandry scientists, officials, producers, postgraduate researchers and livestock trade media from across China. At the conference 13 leading academics from the UK, Canada, Australia,

Sweden, Italy and the US, and 14 Chinese specialists delivered presentations on sentience, pain and stress, behaviour, transport, slaughter, standards, training and education, and the influence of the consumer on farm animal welfare. There were split sessions on the welfare of pigs and cattle, and poultry. In October 2009 the four international organisations followed up the conference with a series of five seminars, under the titles ‘The Benefits of Animal Health and Welfare for the Food Industry’ and ‘The Importance of Animal Welfare for the Future’. The seminars were addressed at audiences of retailers, producers, agriculture university lecturers and students and research institute staff. Leading British and North American animal welfare scientists and experts from the food retail industry gave presentations and took part in discussion. In 2011 the four organisations agreed to co-sponsor an ‘International Symposium on Health, Environment and Animal Welfare’ in Chongqing, in partnership with two Chinese animal agriculture bodies.