Community Animal Welfare Footprints

The 2009 Community Animal Welfare Footprints have been announced.

This year the scheme, supported by the Trading Standards Institute and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, has been bigger and better than ever.

A total of 102 entries were received and 71 organisations shared 88 footprints awarded, which included four innovator winner awards and eight innovator finalist awards.
 

About the annual awards scheme

Launched in April 2008, the RSPCA's Community Animal Welfare Footprints (CAWF) scheme aims to reward and promote good practice in animal welfare by local authorities and housing providers in England and Wales.

It recognises organisations that have gone above and beyond their basic service requirements to ensure higher animal welfare standards.
 

The four Footprint categories

CAWF covers four areas of work (Footprints) that impacts on animal welfare, and includes having an animal welfare charter. The areas are:
 

• stray dog services
   
• housing
   
• contingency planning
   
• animal welfare principles.

Each Footprint has three levels - bronze, silver and gold - each level carrying progressively more demanding criteria.

Successful entrants will receive a gold, silver or bronze logo to use on their organisation's website and letterheads, subject to terms of usage, as well as a certificate.

The organisation could also appear in the 2009 edition of the
CAWF Good Practice Guide (Pdf 2,343kb)

This booklet contains practical advice from the winners of 2008's scheme and aims to help other service providers that are now developing their own animal welfare policies.