15
Annual review 2023
RSPCA ASSURED
PROTECTING
FARMED
ANIMALSINDUSTRIAL FARMING IS THE BIGGEST
WELFARE CHALLENGE WE FACE TODAY.
TO PROTECT ANIMALS, OURSELVES AND
THE PLANET, WE MUST CHANGE THE WAY
WE FARM ANIMALS.
That's why we've developed RSPCA welfare
standards for every kind of farmed animal,
covering all parts of their lives from birth to
slaughter. With no specific legal protection
in place for salmon, trout, turkeys, sheep,
dairy cattle or beef cattle, these standards
give millions of farmed animals better lives.
Farmers, hauliers, processors, packers and abattoirs must
follow them to display the RSPCA Assured label, which
reassures shoppers they are buying higher-welfare products.
Our ambitions
We want more than half the UK's farmed animals to
be reared to these standards by 2030. In 2023, we worked
with shoppers and farmers, supermarkets and chefs to
encourage everyone to eat fewer lower-welfare animal
products and to choose RSPCA Assured food.
Our work for animals in the wild in 2023
We helped secure bans on cruel snares and
glue traps in Wales and restrictions on glue traps
in England, which can now only be used in
exceptional circumstances by professionals.
We brought forward an end to the keeping of
primates as pets in unsuitable conditions in England
- a strict licensing regime is to be introduced.
We worked with a host of other organisations to
expose the significant threat to wildlife of disposable
vapes, leading to the Government considering a ban.
A research project we funded on reptile welfare
helped to support calls for the Government to
develop higher legal standards for pet sellers.
We engaged and empowered people to support
wildlife in their gardens by providing resources
and inspiration for our wildlife garden at the
RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
*This figure is a data snapshot of the number of animals certified under RSPCA Assured as at 1 December 2023,
based on the number of animals recorded at RSPCA Assured's most recent assessment of each member's site.
About 258 million more farmed
animals, plus many millions
of farmed salmon and trout,
were reared under the RSPCA
Assured scheme in 2023*.
*This figure is a data snapshot of the number of animals certified under RSPCA Assured as at 1 December 2023, based on the number of animals recorded at RSPCA Assured's most recent assessment of each member's site.