Full Response - Animal Futures | RSPCA - RSPCA
RSPCA’s response to the Wilberforce Report
‘It is the true duty of every man to promote the happiness of his fellow creatures to the utmost of his power.’
William Wilberforce
This is a crucial time for animal welfare
The RSPCA turned 200 in June 2024. We have spent 200 years fighting for and securing the policy, legislative and cultural changes needed to improve animal welfare. These include campaigning for a ban on bear baiting in 1835 and securing the first major piece of legislation to protect animals in 1911, through to more recent successes such as campaigning for the Animal Welfare Act in 2006. This year, working in partnership with other animal welfare charities, together we finally saw a ban on live exports of farmed animals from the UK become a reality.
While we’re proud to celebrate our achievements during our bicentenary, it is clear that even though progress has been made, sadly, animal cruelty, neglect and exploitation is still rife in the UK. Last year alone, the RSPCA answered nearly a million calls from the public sharing their concerns about the treatment of animals in England and Wales.
So, as we begin our third century, we want to consider what a future world could look like for both people and animals – and how we need to respond.
In recent decades, our understanding of animal welfare has changed – our approach was based on avoiding suffering, with a focus on health – to one that recognises animals’ capacity for happiness, with a focus on their welfare. We’re working towards a world where animals don’t just survive – they thrive.
WE NEED TO WORK TOWARDS A WORLD WHERE ANIMALS THRIVE, NOT JUST SURVIVE
We commissioned Firetail, a strategic foresight consultancy, to analyse scientific evidence and emerging trends across the animal welfare sector. They interviewed stakeholders from across the sector, related sectors like climate change and alternative proteins, as well as thought leaders and influencers, to share with us their perspectives and ideas on the key factors affecting the welfare of animals by 2050.
We chose 2050 as a date because it provides enough time for current trends to develop into reality, but it’s not so far into the future that it’s inconceivable what society will look like.
Firetail collated these expert insights into the Wilberforce Report, outlining five different future scenarios for the animals who share our planet. The scenarios are visions of possible futures, rather than predictions.
- Tech-centric: This scenario outlines how the aggressive use of technology starts to solve issues like climate change and food security, but the solutions come at a cost. Animals and nature are further commodified and used as products to ‘solve’ society’s problems, for example the growth of more efficient, lower welfare farms. As a result, animal welfare significantly declines and people become further disconnected from animals.
- Eco carnage: This potential scenario arises when our failure to tackle global issues leads to the collapse of ecosystems and mass extinction events. Countries turn inward and only think of animals in relation to humans’ food security and survival.
- Blinkered world: In response to challenging socio-economic issues, people see the world through rose-tinted glasses in this scenario. There’s wide support for animal welfare, but this masks the ongoing exploitation of animals, for example through trade deals which uphold low welfare standards.
- One planet: This more positive scenario outlines how people are tackling pressing issues like climate change, but in a way which is inclusive to animals. Animal welfare is valued, with people choosing to eat fewer animal products, and a transition towards alternative proteins is taking place. However, there are still conflicts between people and animals regarding the use of land.
- Animals speak up: What if we develop technology which enables us to have conversations with animals? If animals could communicate how they really feel, how would this change our relationship? Would we all become vegan overnight? Would animals be able to lead their own movements for change? These are the questions considered in this ‘wildcard’ scenario.
The Wilberforce Report suggests that we could be sleepwalking into a bleak future if we do not take urgent action. As detailed in the report, there are a number of factors – from climate change and loss of natural habitats, to rapid technological and demographic changes – that could negatively impact animal welfare. Unfortunately, the stakeholders interviewed for the report viewed animal welfare as a lower priority policy issue. It’s often pushed aside for more prominent concerns, which is regrettable but sometimes understandable. They stressed that, to make animal welfare a top political and policy priority, something significant and new would need to happen, like the optimistic and revolutionary ‘Animals speak up’ scenario described in the report.
However, it shouldn’t take a technological revolution to recognise the interdependence between people and animals. The moral, ethical, health, and economic arguments alone are enough to prioritise animal welfare in policy making. The Wilberforce Report therefore acts as a stark warning of the potential future consequences if all of us, including the RSPCA, do not play a part in creating radical change and deliver significant improvements in animal welfare.
Animal welfare is closely linked to the health and wellbeing of people, as well as ecological and socio-economic systems. (Footnote 1) The ‘One Health’ concept, developed as a response to the spreading of zoonotic diseases between species, aims to balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems. (Footnote 2) It recognises that good animal welfare and protection of the natural world are fundamental to healthy ecosystems, inextricably linking human health and animal health. As we consider the future trajectory of climate change, food security and public health, it’s clear that animals play a key role in reversing the risks and impacts these issues pose.
But we need to act fast. We are rapidly approaching the 2030 deadline to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 43 percent from 2019 levels, as set by the Paris agreement, to avoid passing an unsustainable 1.5 degrees celsius global temperature rise. Reforming and reimagining animal agriculture is critical to reducing GHG emissions.
The over-intensification of agriculture and factors such as climate change have also had a significant impact on the planet’s ecological landscape. Humanity’s (often neglected) dependence on nature is at risk, and studies have shown that if no changes are made to how we treat and care for the planet, by 2050 it is likely that six ecosystem services (the contributions nature provides which support human wellbeing) such as pollination of crops and carbon storage will be lost, which will result in a loss of US $9.87 trillion in GDP. (Footnote 3)
OVER-INTENSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT PLANET’S ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
As the proximity between people and animals becomes increasingly interconnected, we can expect to see a rise in the frequency of new zoonotic diseases, resulting from climate change, microbial adaptation, wildlife exploitation, and international travel. If the interconnectedness between public health and animal welfare is not recognised, we will see increasing pandemics and threats to public health. The futures of people and the animals we share the planet with are therefore inextricably linked.
We are already seeing warning signs that we are entering one of the possible futures outlined in the Wilberforce Report – Blinkered world – where we love and care for individual animals, but continue to build systemic suffering into our society. Although the UK claims to be compassionate towards animals – with the RSPCA’s own Kindness Index showing that 68 percent of the British public identify as an ‘animal lover’ – this masks the ongoing commodification and exploitation of many animals. (Footnote 4) We now have growing numbers of lower welfare farms in the UK. There are almost 2,000 lower welfare farms – an increase of 200 in five years. (Footnote 5) Taking broiler (meat) chickens as an example, this means that 1.1 billion chickens are slaughtered for meat each year. The majority of these chickens are not farmed to high welfare standards, meaning that we are already seeing farmed animals suffering at an industrial scale in the UK.
ALMOST 2,000 INTENSIVE FARMS IN THE UK - INCREASE OF 200 IN FIVE YEARS
The Blinkered world scenario also outlines how low welfare animal products will flood the UK market as a result of black market trading and trade deals. The UK has already agreed trade deals which have compromised animal welfare, such as the 2021 Free Trade Agreement and the 2023 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). CPTPP in particular opens the door for eggs produced in lower welfare battery systems – a system which is illegal in the UK – to be imported into the country. The warning signs leading to the Blinkered world scenario are being ignored.
Even though we love our pets, the growing popularity of ‘designer’ breeds of cats, dogs and increasingly other species, has led to suffering among companion animals. Brachycephalic (flat faced) animals experience a variety of health problems, including difficulty breathing, skin, eye and dental issues. Consumer demand for these breeds – with more than a quarter of a million Google searches last year for common brachycephalic puppy breeds such as French Bulldogs – means that puppies with often severe health problems are bred, with no regard for their health and quality of life. This is despite 83 percent of the UK public stating that they do not think animals with genetic health problems should be bred. (Footnote 6) The cognitive dissonance between the British public’s attitudes towards animals, and the reality of how animals are treated shows that we’re already playing out the Blinkered world scenario.
Even in the most positive scenarios outlined in the Wilberforce Report, animal welfare is still seen as a low priority. For example, the One planet scenario (where people tackle societal issues in a way which is inclusive of animals) still leads to conflicts in land use between human needs, like housing, and the need to protect habitats for wildlife.
At the RSPCA, we want to be positive and ambitious about the futures of people, animals and our planet. By 2050 at the latest, we want animal welfare to be seen as a top political and policy priority, embedded in policy making and decisions at every level of government. We do not want to see conversations about animal welfare taking place in silos. When policymakers and politicians at local, devolved, and national government levels have conversations about issues such as housing, climate change, and health, we want them to include the impacts on animal welfare in their decision-making.
WE WANT ANIMAL WELFARE TO BE A PRIMARY ORDER ISSUE IN POLICY MAKING IN GOVERNMENT BY 2050
We have a vision for 2050 that presents an alternative scenario to those identified in the Wilberforce Report. By 2050, we want to see a new ‘social contract’ between people and animals, which redefines our relationship. In our 2050 vision, animals are no longer seen as commodities, with the importance of protecting and promoting animal welfare to human wellbeing being recognised. Animals will:
- No longer be used for science in ways which cause them harm.
- Only be used in sports or for entertainment when it is a positive experience for them. The social licence for welfare-negative activities is withdrawn.
- Not be bred for aesthetic purposes. Designer breeding is seen as socially unacceptable, with only welfare-positive breeding permitted.
- Have their homes and habitats respected and protected. Wild animals will live in the wild, with human/wild animal interactions being limited to those which are unobtrusive and positive for welfare.
- Experience a transformed livestock farming system, where the welfare of animals is the primary driver. Far fewer animals will be farmed, fewer animal products will be consumed, and those animals who are farmed, are farmed to the highest standards.
- Be recognised and protected as sentient beings with their entitlement to a good life enshrined in law.
To deliver this vision and avoid the negative scenarios described in the report, we want to see governments at all levels taking decisive action in the next five years. This will lay the foundations to create a transformed future for animals by 2050, underpinned by the new social contract between people and the animals we share the planet with.
In particular, we want to see the new UK Government create a new ‘mission’ for national renewal that is focused on redefining the relationship between people and animals. The outputs of this mission should be a ‘charter’ for all government departments to use, outlining how animal welfare needs to be considered in all areas of government policy making, as well as emphasising the commitment to creating a better world for all animals. As a starting point, the UK Government needs to work with devolved governments and stakeholders across society to make progress in the following five areas:
THE FOOD AND FARMING SYSTEM NEEDS TO TAKE AN ‘ANIMAL-FIRST’ AND ‘NATURE-FIRST’ APPROACH
- 1 We need to reimagine the food and farming system so that it takes an ‘animal-first’ and ‘nature-first’ approach, with animals only farmed if they can be farmed to the highest welfare standards. Reforming the farming system is critical not only to improving the welfare of farmed animals, but also to tackling climate change and habitat destruction. In an animal-first model of farming, the impact of farming on wildlife and nature will also be minimised. This new model will involve fewer animals being farmed, and the market for alternative proteins growing significantly. Farmers will also receive financial sustainable grants to support them to adopt this animal and nature-first model of farming. To progress this transformation, in the next five years, the RSPCA wants to see:
- Legislation to introduce a complete ban on cages used in farming, and a concrete plan to phase out low welfare, fast-growing broiler (meat) chickens. We also want to see farmers being able to access financially-viable grants to move towards an animal-first model of farming.
- With only 41 percent (Footnote 7) of the public thinking that tackling lower welfare farming should be a priority for the RSPCA, it is clear that we need to do more work to engage the public on the welfare issues many farmed animals face. To tackle this, we want to see a government-led Citizens’ Assembly on food and farming, with a commitment to implement the recommendations. The Citizens’ Assembly would examine the public’s appetite for reducing the consumption of animal products and increasing the welfare of farmed animals.
- Significant investment from governments in alternative proteins and lab-grown meat, transforming the UK into an alternative protein powerhouse.
- Discussions around mitigating the potential harmful impacts of climate change being linked to discussions on the food and farming system.
- 2 Foster a new age of responsible pet ownership, where all companion animals have a good life and can thrive, and potential pet owners only introduce a pet into their lives if they have the skills and knowledge to meet the animal’s needs. To deliver this change, in the next five years, the RSPCA wants to see:
- Legislation to prevent extreme breeding, where animals with genetic health conditions are bred for aesthetics. This could include an update to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and Licensing of Activities Involving Animals (2018) regulations.
- An independent parliamentary inquiry into responsible pet ownership, examining issues like overall pet population size, designer breeding, pet licensing, public education and how to create a culture of care between pets and their owners.
- A positive list to restrict the exotic animals who are suitable to be kept as pets. This should be put in place as an interim step until the parliamentary inquiry reports on its findings. Exotic animals who cannot have their needs met and who are unable to live a good life should be prohibited from being kept as a companion animal.
- A pet registration scheme for every pet across the UK. Currently, there is no government data on how many pets of any species are owned in the UK. Collecting this data would fill this data gap, increase pet traceability, and inform policy making at all levels of government.
- 3
Ensure that existing and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are used only to improve the welfare of animals, and are not used to further commodify or exploit animals. To achieve this vision over the next five years the UK Government must:
- Require the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to put in place an animal welfare code of practice and stringent governance of AI to ensure the technology is only used to improve animal welfare.
- Continue to invest in technological innovations, and play an instrumental role in creating a global race to invest in non-animal technologies and methodologies, so an end to animal use in science can be made a reality before 2050.
- 4 Strengthen the human/animal connection to lay the foundations of a new social contract between people and animals. This will involve the public participating in lifelong learning about animal welfare, including animal welfare education being introduced into school curricula at all stages of education. To lay these foundations, governments across the UK must deliver the following in the next five years:
- Include animal welfare on schools’ curricula. The Kindness Index also showed that 89 percent (Footnote 8) of the population believes there are benefits to including animal welfare in schools’ curricula. To help increase awareness and understanding of animal welfare among all learners, we want to see the Welsh Government’s approach to introducing a module on empathy and animal welfare in its new curriculum replicated across the UK. The UK Government should also introduce a module on animal welfare and animal protection into the new GCSE on Natural History.
- To promote respect and kindness towards wild animals, the UK Government should amend standards to prohibit zoos from offering low-welfare animal encounter experiences that involve direct contact with captive wild animals.
- 5 The RSPCA also wants to work with international partners, including United Nations (UN) bodies and European institutions, to achieve transformative policy change for animals. In the long term, the UN should acknowledge the importance of animal welfare and the pivotal role improving animal welfare plays in tackling the climate crisis, food security, and maintaining human health by introducing a UN Convention on Animal Welfare. In the next five years, the UN and European institutions should:
- Create a new Sustainable Development Goal for animal welfare when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are refreshed in 2030, and in the meantime embed animal welfare into the existing SDGs, for example on climate change.
- Appoint a UN Special Rapporteur for animal welfare.
- Similarly, the President of the European Commission should put in place a European Commissioner for animal welfare.
EXISTING AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE AI SHOULD BE USED TO IMPROVE ANIMAL WELFARE
The RSPCA cannot create the change needed to deliver a positive future for all animals, including humans, alone. NGOs, governments, businesses, and individuals are all responsible for animal welfare, and it will take the ideas, efforts, and energy of all of us to create the transformative change needed to deliver a positive world for animals and the new social contract between people and animals by 2050. But, as the world’s largest and oldest animal welfare organisation, the RSPCA has an important convening role to play, working with a range of influencers to build coalitions to campaign for change. If we are to reposition animal welfare as one of the most important issues affecting society, we will need everyone’s input. We want to spark a million conversations, and engage as many people as possible to create a better world for every animal. As such, the RSPCA will:
- Hold a national conversation called the Animal Futures Project with the general public to understand the public’s priorities for animal welfare. The output from this conversation will be used to influence governments and shape the RSPCA’s future campaigning work.
- Build a millions strong movement to campaign on key issues affecting animal welfare by 2050.
- Expand the evidence base on animal welfare by commissioning research to understand how climate change and technology will affect animal welfare in the future.
- Create an evidence centre to explore the relationship between people and animals and how this can be improved.
- Expand our partnerships and coalitions, reaching out to sister organisations globally, technology companies, the climate change movement, and the media industry to explore how we can work together to create a better future for animals.
We are confident about the level of ambition in the proposals outlined above. Our report tells us that we must achieve this kind of transformational change for the good of people, the planet and animals, and our 200-year history tells us that as a society we can and have made these great leaps forward. After all, when William Wilberforce, Richard Martin and Arthur Broome met to found the RSPCA in a coffee shop 200 years ago, their walk to the meeting would have taken them past bull baiting rings, working animals being beaten in the street and stray cats and dogs eking out an existence in a hostile world. The world has invented many new forms of animal suffering since those times, but society has also undergone a complete cultural shift, with appalling practices being consigned to history and loving animals being part of our national identity. Now it is time to look to the future, and make the changes that will lead to a better world, for every kind.
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Footnotes
Footnote 2: World Health Organisation, One health, https://www.who.int/health-topics/one-health