Advising government

Who do we work with? 

The Society works closely with decision-makers and representatives from local authorities, Westminster and the National Assembly in Wales. We also work in partnership with Eurogroup for Animals to lobby the European institutions. You can find out more details about why and how we do this work on these pages.

Why do we lobby government?

The main aims of the Society's work with government and politicians are:

• To change laws and policy to improve animal welfare,
• To raise awareness of the values of the RSPCA,
• To provide an information service to government, politicians and their staff on animal welfare issues.

Information for politicians 

The RSPCA always bases its policies on sound science and any issue which we respond on will always be backed up by advice from our scientific departments. The Political Affairs team has a number of briefings for polticians and their staff on a number of different issues, some of which can be found on these pages. Please do contact us for further information.

2009 award winners

We were delighted to be voted the best animal welfare charity to communicate with politicians by MPs and Lords at the ComRes Charity Awards for the second year running. The award was received by the team at the House of Commons and presented by former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. The other award winners can be seen on the ComRes website.

We received a number of supportive quotes from MPs who voted for us:

In 2009, the RSPCA have continued their committed campaigning efforts to stop cruelty to animals. They achieve extremely high profile performance, and are one of the most effective campaigning organisations. They have a strong and committed ethos, and are not easily blown off course.

Peter Bone MP

I have seen the excellent work the RSPCA has done at first hand in rescuing large numbers of badly treated animals. They have worked expertly with the police and other charitable organisations to obtain convictions and to restore animals to health at great cost and with tireless application to their cause.

A Conservative MP