Animal Futures: Our plan for a better world

“This is the right time for change. We strongly urge decision-makers to consider our collective voice, as expressed in our recommendations, which were shaped through thoughtful deliberation and respectful, impartial conversations.”

Extract from the citizens’ assembly vision statement

A group of people standing outside of a brick building.

Foreword

By Thomas Schultz-Jagow, Director of Advocacy and Prevention, RSPCA

In 1824, the RSPCA became the world’s first charity dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Over 200 years later, we’ve helped transform the world for animals and continue to improve their lives. During this period, we’ve influenced over 400 laws, from the landmark Protection of Animals Act 1911, which was the first of its kind to establish legal safeguards to prevent cruelty to animals, to the pioneering Animal Welfare Act 2006. Beyond our political influence, we’ve helped change how people perceive and treat animals, inspiring generations to show them care and respect.

An old black and white image of two male RSPCA inspectors, one holding a scruffy mixed breed dog.

However, today, the challenges facing animals are more urgent and complex than ever, crossing borders, industries and communities – they cannot be solved in isolation. Yet, at a time when humans also face huge challenges, such as food insecurity, the cost-of-living crisis, political instability and war, it can be difficult to make animals’ voices heard. The reality is: what’s good for animals is good for us all. The growth of low-welfare farming, the rapid advance of technology, and the deepening climate and nature crises are all issues that affect not only animals but people and the planet, too. We’re at a crossroads, and the choices we make today will shape the future we build for animals – and ourselves.

It’s with this understanding that we aim to spark a transformational shift in how humanity relates to animals, achieving our vision of a world where animals don’t merely survive, but truly thrive. This vision led to the creation of the Animal Futures project. To begin, we partnered with the strategic consultancy Firetail, using futures methodology to explore the scenarios and forces that could define animals’ lives by 2050. What emerged was clear: the choices we make today will determine whether animals face a bleak tomorrow, or whether we create a world where they flourish alongside us. Without action now, we risk a future where technology deepens their commodification, where conflicts over land escalate, and where environmental destruction pushes countless species to extinction.

Animal Futures: Our plan for a better world

What does the future hold for animals — and for us?Our latest report explores bold ideas, real-world solutions, and what comes next.

Read the full report now

We alone cannot change the future for animals. Real change demands we speak with one voice, which means we need the public with us. That’s why we launched the Animal Futures citizens’ assembly as part of our Animal Futures project. The citizens’ assembly was the first of its kind for animal welfare and for the RSPCA. Working with New Citizen Project (NCP), we created the largest public conversation on animal welfare to date. Using deliberative democracy, we invited the public, through an online forum, to suggest their ideas on the changes they’d like to see to create a better world for animals through our ‘Big Conversation’. NCP then held the Animal Futures citizens’ assembly, bringing together 44 diverse individuals, and presented these ideas alongside the views of animal welfare experts. The assembly’s vision and recommendations made it abundantly clear that animal welfare truly matters to people.

The assembly’s bold recommendations called for stronger laws and protections for pets, a more compassionate and transparent farming system, and new policies that embed animal welfare and habitats into the very heart of planning and development. They also made it clear that while individuals want the tools to make the right choices, government and industry must lead the way in protecting animals.

This process, its recommendations, and this report together mark a pivotal moment. They unite the UK public's voice with the RSPCA’s experience and expertise to set a path forward. The people have spoken: to build a fairer, kinder and more sustainable society, we must put animal welfare at its heart.

Four people wearing bright orange t-shirts standing in front of a large chart with colourful diagrams on it.

WHILE INDIVIDUALS WANT THE TOOLS TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY MUST LEAD THE WAY IN PROTECTING ANIMALS

Executive summary

For over 200 years, the RSPCA has championed policy, legislative and cultural changes to create a better world for animals. We’ve influenced over 400 laws and transformed the way society perceives and treats animals. However, urgent and complex challenges persist, from rising neglect and abandonment due to the cost-of-living crisis, to the growth of low-welfare farming, climate change impacts, and rapid nature loss. Immediate action is needed to secure a safer, more compassionate future for animals.

At the RSPCA, we envision a future where animals don’t just survive, but thrive. To help achieve this, we launched the Animal Futures project in 2024, our bicentenary year, to bring animal welfare back to the forefront and explore how the public, policymakers, and NGOs like the RSPCA can drive the necessary changes. As part of this, we commissioned the Wilberforce Report (Footnote 1), which outlined five potential scenarios for animals, people and the planet by 2050. These range from optimistic transformations in attitudes to ecological breakdown and mass extinctions caused by climate change.

Two people stood in front of a large chart looking at the diagrams on the chart.

Rethinking our relationship with animals

These warnings highlight the urgent need to rethink our relationship with animals to avoid a dystopian future. In response to the Wilberforce Report, the RSPCA proposed a new social contract between people and animals. This shifts the perception of animals from commodities to sentient beings with their own needs, feelings and values, deserving of respect. Building this stronger human-animal bond requires deeper public understanding and practical changes in how we care for pets, farmed animals and wildlife.

WE MUST URGENTLY RETHINK OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ANIMALS TO PREVENT A DYSTOPIAN FUTURE

Recommendations for a Kinder Future for animals

To foster this deeper understanding, the RSPCA, in collaboration with participation consultancy New Citizen Project (NCP) (Footnote 2), launched ‘Animal Futures: The Big Conversation’ earlier this year, followed by the ‘Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Animal Welfare’ (referred to as the citizens’ assembly throughout the report). The Animal Futures project aimed to be the UK’s largest public conversation on animal welfare, engaging over 7,000 people. The Big Conversation invited public ideas and policy solutions for creating a better world for animals. The ideas were then included in national polling, with the most popular taken forward to shape the discussions at the citizens’ assembly.

The citizens’ assembly brought together 44 participants, representative of the general public across England and Wales. Eighteen experts presented on topics such as the moral and legal status of animals, pet ownership, farming, and human impact on wild animals. Using this expert evidence, suggestions from The Big Conversation, and their own insights, the assembly developed a vision for the future of animal welfare (Footnote 3) and a clear, inspiring roadmap for change, including practical recommendations (in Citizens’ assembly recommendations below). The top five priorities for action, identified by overall support, are shown in bold. It’s particularly encouraging that some of these public priorities align with the RSPCA’s own advocacy goals, demonstrating a strong shared vision for a kinder future. The recommendation on technology (Farming in future) was not put forward by citizens’ assembly members or NCP as a core recommendation.

Given the right information, the time to deliberate, and a respectful environment, everyday citizens are not only capable of understanding complex issues but also of finding thoughtful, considered solutions.

Participant in the Animal Futures’ Citizen’s Assembly

Citizens’ assembly recommendations

Pet 0wnership

Conducting campaigns to build awareness around pet ownership

Teaching animal welfare in schools

Recording how pets are bred, sold and cared for using ‘Pet Life Certificates’

Creating a dedicated regulatory body for pets

What does this mean for companion animals?

For companion animals, this vision focuses on animal welfare education in schools, supporting responsible pet ownership, and stronger breeding regulation.

Farming now

Increasing welfare standards for farmed animals

Ensuring transparent, fair prices for higher welfare meat

Providing greater support for higher welfare farming

Embedding animal welfare into the future of land use & farming

Farming in the future

Welfare labelling and building awareness at point of purchase

Supporting the growth and uptake of alternative proteins

Regulating how precision breeding & gene editing is used in farming

Using technology for monitoring and increasing animal welfare*

What does this mean for farmed animals?

For farmed animals, the assembly’s vision means ending cage use, prioritising animal welfare in food production and land use, supporting farmers, and enabling informed consumer choices through welfare labelling and accessible alternatives.

Human impact on wild animals

Strengthening existing wildlife laws and resourcing for their enforcement

Creating a ‘Community Habitat Service’

Banning activities where animals are shot for sport

Advocating for, regulating and enforcing wild animal-friendly development

What does this mean for wildlife?

For wild animals, members call for stronger protections, connected habitats and modernised laws to end destructive practices such as shooting for sport.

Building on the citizens’ assembly recommendations

The RSPCA’s vision for animal welfare

The RSPCA’s recommendations for animal welfare build on the valuable insights from the citizens’ assembly, acknowledging the importance of both expert guidance and public perspectives. We welcome the assembly’s recommendations and will consider how to integrate them into our advocacy work, ensuring citizen voices guide future animal welfare policy. Many identified priorities align with existing RSPCA work, demonstrating a strong shared vision.

By combining the concerns and aspirations of citizens with decades of experience, scientific research and frontline expertise, the assembly’s vision and the RSPCA’s recommendations together create a powerful, complementary pathway for meaningful and sustainable improvements for animals.

RSPCA’s recommendations

A woman wearing a blue shirt and brown gilet petting her light brown and white dog.

Pet ownership

Partnerships between relevant organisations and government are key to promoting responsible pet ownership campaigns

Schools and other learning establishments should be provided with guidance and resources for consistent animal welfare education

Centralised pet licensing needs to be established with robust enforcement and improved data

Local enforcement should be funded and strengthened, pet licensing reviewed, and existing initiatives fully enforced to improve animal welfare regulation

A sow alongside a half-moon corrugated metal pig pen, standing next to a number of piglets.