We Have Launched!

A message from our Executive Director, Edie Bowles

The Animal Law Foundation is a legal research charity that looks into neglected areas of animal law across the UK. Where we consider it necessary and appropriate we will instruct lawyers to bring legal challenges, to ensure any legislative and regulatory systems in place to protect animals are functioning as they should. 

Through the work conducted at my law firm, Advocates for Animals, it became apparent that the laws that are passed in the UK are grossly under-enforced in practice, rendering the value of those laws questionable at best and redundant at worst.  To put this into context, I review undercover footage almost every month and I see illegality, substandard practices or cruelty, without exception. 

Our first project was a joint report with Animal Equality, which we released via the Guardian last month and presented in Parliament, which revealed the magnitude of this enforcement problem for farmed animals. We will now put those findings to use to ensure the situation changes. It is a gross injustice that the minimum standards animals are afforded are being disregarded and undermined.

The UK still has some of the best animal welfare laws in the world, yet the opportunity for vast change contained within these laws is rarely explored. Through exploring these opportunities, the whole system for animals can be improved and set global examples. It is of vital importance that the laws that exist to protect animals are understood and applied.  

You can watch our introductory video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VA2bPreP4V0 

You can read our joint report with Animal Equality here: https://animallawfoundation.org/reports 

You can find out how The Animal Law Foundation and Advocates for Animals will work together here: https://www.advocates-for-animals.com/post/update-from-advocates-for-animals-and-the-animal-law-foundation