Campaign Successes 2011

2011 was another busy year for campaigning and you did us proud. Thousands of you put pen to paper – or finger to keyboard to sign petitions, switched to higher welfare eggs, meat, fish and poultry, listen to our advice, shared our campaign news and joined us on Facebook and Twitter.

To thank you for all your efforts here are our top campaign successes of 2011

Anne the elephant

Do you remember Anne? The elderly, arthritic elephant, who was finally retired from ‘Bobby Roberts Super Circus’ in April this year after shocking footage was released of Anne allegedly being beaten.

You overwhelmingly supported the call to get Anne released from the circus and now Anne spends her days at Longleat Safari Park and at the end of last year we were delighted to hear that the Crown Prosecution Service had agreed to take on the prosecution of Bobby and Moira Roberts in relation to the alleged mistreatment of Anne.

Anne's mistreatment put animals in circuses back in the spotlight but astonishingly, despite overwhelming support from both the public and MPs, the government in Westminster has still failed to implement a ban on wild animals in circuses.

The Welsh Government can also legislate on this issue and over the August bank holiday weekend thousands of you visited our big top in Cardiff Bay and signed out petition asking the Welsh Government to ban wild animals in circuses. Thanks to all for your help and support.

In 2012 we will continue to keep the pressure on! Anne’s life of forced performance is over, but for the tigers, camels and lions that remain in today’s last remaining travelling circuses our campaigns with the governments in Cardiff and Westminster continue.

More about animals in circuses in England and in Wales

Lab animals

Back in spring, we alerted you to the government consultation about lab animals and how a new EU Directive could bring into effect new UK law on animal research and testing.

Although the directive could be a good thing for animals in some European countries, standards are higher here in the UK. This could mean a significant step back for the welfare of lab animals.

Over 6,500 of you responded to the consultation to demand that lab animals do not suffering long-lasting ‘severe’ pain and distress, and inhumane methods of killing.

As the government reviews the consultation responses, we continue to monitor events closely and behind the scenes our science team continues to input into the process at every opportunity.

We anticipate a formal response to the consultation process from the Home Office in early 2012.

Find out more about our lab animals campaign

Rabbits

In May we joined forces with a number of animal welfare organisations to be part of Rabbit Awareness Week.

With rabbit behaviours as the theme together we helped to raise awareness of how best to look after your pet rabbits. Nearly 2000 vets provided free health checks and over 650 pet retailers and 120 animal centres provided information and advice to rabbit owners.

More of you joined our community of rabbit enthusiasts and you helped to spread the word about good rabbit behaviour by sending us video clips. The result was our fabulous ‘happy bunnies’ videos, featuring your pets showing the types of behaviour rabbits can and should get up to given enough space and attention.

Find out more about our work for rabbits

Take a look at the Welsh Code of Practice for rabbits.

Think Pig

Despite continuing financial pressures, consumers still support higher welfare farming. The new voluntary labelling of pork and pork products which came into effect in 2010 continued to help change consumer buying behaviour.

Our Think Pig campaign provide shopping advice about what to look for on the label when buying sausages, bacon, ham and pork and the number of pigs reared to RSPCA welfare standards under the Freedom Food scheme continued to increase.

It just goes to show the power that shoppers have to make real changes to animals’ lives through what they choose to buy.

Find out more about Think Pig
Find out more about Freedom Food

Our efforts in 2012 don’t stop. We have some new campaigns alongside our long term campaigns which still value your ongoing support.