Aims and Principles

Our Vision

A world in which animals are not exploited and are seen and treated as sentient beings.

Our Mission

To establish a voice for the animals through a dedicated political party that focuses on respect and compassion for all living beings.

Principles

As the UK political party most strongly advocating for the protection of animals, the party’s principles are:

To raise human perceptions of the moral status of animals by recognising animals as sentient beings
To raise the legal status of animals to reflect their status as sentient beings, including protection in national and international law
By promoting animals’ rights, to further respect for both humans and non-human animals
To facilitate increased respect for all sentient life by promoting animal protection education, at all educational levels
To protect the environment by ensuring that farming and development activities are sustainable
To promote healthy living

Animals farmed for food

To phase out farming systems with poor welfare consequences for animals
To improve animal welfare by raising farming standards and by ensuring trade regulations and other measures encourage high welfare standards
To support farming methods that enhance animal welfare or reduce use of or dependency on animals
To phase out livestock farming subsidies in sectors where consumer demand is falling, and redirect such subsidies towards plant-based agriculture and the promotion of biodiversity, and to the general areas of environment, education and public health
To end the long distance transportation of live animals to or from destinations within the UK, to continental European destinations and further afield

Animals used in research, testing and education

To immediately ban the harmful use of all non-human primates in experiments
To ban all harmful use of animals in scientific research, toxicity testing and education
To establish an independent transparent scientific inquiry to thoroughly review the ethical, scientific and economic implications of the use of animals in scientific research, toxicity testing and education
To facilitate increased funding for the development, validation and implementation of non-animal alternatives

Animals living in the wild

To ban all trapping and snaring, and hunting and shooting for recreational purposes
To promote wildlife preservation, habitat conservation and biodiversity

Animals kept as companions

To establish a companion animal licensing system. Mandatory requirements would include minimum age limits (e.g. 18 years of age) for licence-holders, and the successful completion of a responsible animal care certificate (as is the case, for example, in Switzerland), appropriate to the species in question. Annual maintenance of the licence would require mandatory neutering of cats and dogs by sexual maturity or earlier, other than in very special circumstances; compliance with basic preventative healthcare measures such as vaccination and parasite control; annual veterinary check-ups; mandatory identification and registration, through both externally visible identification and micro chipping; and maintenance of companion animal insurance designed to fund unexpected medical or surgical expenses. Limitations would be imposed on numbers of animals that may be kept at each address, related to type of housing. In the small number of cases where no companion animal insurance is in place, there should be government funding for basic and emergency services provided through existing private veterinary clinics, hospitals and charities.
To ban breeding of companion animals to meet breed standards or for other purposes that result in hereditary anatomical, physiological or other impairments potentially contrary to good welfare
To improve legislation and regulations against animal neglect and abuse, by strengthening and extending police powers, increasing penalties for offenders, and increasing public educational programmes concerning responsible companion animal care and related topics

Animals used for entertainment, fashion and art

To ban the harmful use of animals for blood sports, racing events, any other form of entertainment or cultural event
To ban the harmful exploitation of animals for advertising, fashion and art

Consultation submissions

Animal Welfare Party has submitted several responses to consultations relating to animal welfare, including:

The UK Political Party for People, Animals and the Environment