Ask the Government to treat animal protection as the priority that British people expect
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
Region: United Kingdom
Celebrities write to the Prime Minister asking for urgent action on animal welfare pledges, as leading animal protection organisations stage Downing Street demonstration
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Two years on from the publication of the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare, which promised to “revolutionise the treatment of animals in the UK”, celebrities including Dame Joanna Lumley, Leona Lewis, Will Young and Susie Dent have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating that animals “have been badly let down”. The celebrities, joining forces with leading UK animal charities Animal Aid, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK, Humane Society International/UK, PETA UK and the RSPCA, lament a lack of progress on addressing issues such as ending live animal exports, exploring action on the import and sale of fur products and banning keeping primates as pets. The signatories call on the Government to deliver its Action Plan in full.
In addition to the letter from celebrities, 25 of the country’s largest animal protection groups including the RSPCA have published an open letter to Rishi Sunak, detailing the Government’s inaction on vital animal welfare measures over the last two years and stating, “Our patience, and our trust, has now been exhausted. The organisations urge the Prime Minister to ensure that his Government will not abandon its promise of world-leading action for animals that millions of British people are waiting for.
Of the dozens of “game changing welfare measures” pledged in the Action Plan to better protect animals at home and overseas, only around a quarter have been delivered so far. The Kept Animals Bill, containing several Conservative manifesto promises, such as banning live exports for slaughter and fattening and stopping the cruel trade in puppies, has not been given Parliamentary time for over 17 months. The Action Plan’s flagship legislation recognising animal sentience and requiring it to be considered when formulating and implementing Government policy has still not been brought into force.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “The Government’s apparent disinterest and unwillingness to deliver its own Action Plan for animals is frankly baffling. MPs tell us they receive more constituent correspondence calling for better animal protection than any other issue, so passing legislation like the Kept Animals Bill and a ban on fur imports should be an easy and obvious choice in terms of popular policy. But instead, we and animals are enduring endless delays, seemingly deprioritised by this Government despite huge public concern. We urge Mr Sunak to remember his Party’s promises to animals and start delivering the action that they deserve, and voters expect.”
Elisa Allen, PETA vice president of programmes, said: “Animals are in peril, and the government has seemingly abandoned them as time is running out for it to make good on its word. PETA is calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to ensure the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill becomes law, along with every other piece of promised pro-animal legislation without further delay.”
Chris Sherwood, RSPCA chief executive, said: “Sadly, animals have been left in limbo by continued inaction on key animal welfare issues by this UK Government. The RSPCA’s landmark Kindness Index found that 80% of people in the UK believe animal welfare should be protected by the government through legislation but sadly we have seen far too little progress from some of the key pledges contained with the UK Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We urge Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to end the gridlock, revive the Kept Animals Bill and ensure this administration keeps its promises for the nation’s animals – helping deliver a country where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion they deserve.”
Coinciding with the letters, the animal charities held an eye-catching demonstration in Westminster with campaigners dressed as Rishi Sunak and Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey staging a scene of animals being ‘hung out to dry’ on a washing line in front of Downing Street.
National polling carried out in April 2022 shows that Brits want to see the Government follow through on its promises to enhance animal welfare. The poll found 72% of respondents – and 71% of those who voted Conservative in the last general election – would like the Government to pass more laws designed to improve animal welfare and protect animals from cruelty.
- Photos from the action outside Downing Street can be downloaded here (credit: PETA).
- The open letter from celebrities to Rishi Sunak can be viewed here. The full list of signatories is:
Evanna Lynch, Jan Leeming, Dame Joanna Lumley DBE FRGS, Jodie Prenger, Kirsty Gallacher, Leona Lewis, Dr Marc Abraham OBE, Megan McCubbin, Pete Wicks, Peter Egan, Rula Lenska, Dr Scott Miller BVSc MRCVS , Susie Dent, Tracy Edwards MBE, Will Young. - The published letter from animal protection NGOs to Rishi Sunak can be viewed here.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens, Humane Society International/UK , sivens@hsi.org ; 07590 559299
Dame Joanna Lumley leads celebrities, MPs and Peers in sending giant Mother’s Day card to Defra calling on them to facilitate ‘The Crate Escape’ for mother pigs
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—New polling data shows that less than one in five people in Britain (19.8%) support the use of pig farrowing crates. Yet, every year on UK farms, over 200,000 mother pigs are confined for up to five weeks at a time in small cages in which they can’t even turn around.
Today, The Crate Escape campaign led by Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, Humane Society International/UK and Compassion in World Farming held a Parliamentary reception hosted by Mark Francois MP calling on the UK Government to ban farrowing crates and support farmers to transition away from their use. The reception, which was attended by cross-party MPs and Peers, raised awareness of the suffering sows endure when they are forced to spend almost a quarter of their lives in cages so small, they cannot even turn around.
A giant Mother’s Day card signed by dozens of MPs, Peers and celebrities, including Dame Joanna Lumley, was delivered to Defra after the reception. The card asks Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey to ‘please give pigs a happier Mother’s Day’ and urges her to deliver on the Government’s 2021 commitment to launch a consultation for a farrowing crate ban.
The reception coincided with the publication of a new Survation poll [1], carried out in March 2023, which also found that two-thirds of those polled would support the Government providing financial support to farmers to move to free-farrowing methods. Only 15.5% would presently oppose a ban on farrowing crates.
Speaking at the reception, Anna Firth, Conservative MP for Southend West, said: “Pig farrowing is one of the most inhumane, restrictive farming systems still in existence in the UK and the European Union. Pig farrowing crates have to go. […] I’m proud of the fact that this Government has introduced the Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, which amongst many things, pledges to explore reforming our use of pig farrowing crates. So we have a Government that’s committed to a future where this system is no longer necessary, which I commend, but what that means is that we must hold their feet to the fire, we must, all of us, urge this Government to continue putting pressure to make sure that this aim becomes a reality.”
Speaking at the reception, Shadow Defra Spokesperson Baroness Sue Hayman said: “These are mothers. I’m sure I’m not the only mother in the room, how would we feel if it was the practice to put us in a cage […] it’s an absolute outrage, there isn’t any other way of putting it. […] The Government has talked about [banning farrowing crates] so it is time that the UK caught up and actually started the process to make banning an actuality.”
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, commented: “Pigs are intelligent and sensitive animals, and the torment they suffer while confined in tiny cages for weeks on end is heartbreaking. Our polling shows that the majority of Brits, over 60%, had not even heard of farrowing crates despite their widespread use. That’s a worrying indication of how disconnected consumers are from the grim reality for animals suffering on factory farms. If we’re truly a nation of animal lovers then we can and must do better than this, mothers should not be kept in cages.”
Lorraine Platt, co-founder of Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, commented: “We were delighted to see Parliamentarians, NGOs, charities and campaigners come together as one voice in Parliament to call for an end to the use of farrowing crates in the UK. The Crate Escape reception was a clear display of the strong public and political will to end the suffering 60% of our national pig herd endure every year.
We would like to thank our host Mark Francois MP, as well as our other speakers including Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation Head of Research Dr Steve McCulloch, Shadow Defra Spokesperson Baroness Hayman, and our Patron Anna Firth MP. The Crate Escape will continue to support the Government’s aim for farrowing crates to longer be necessary, and we look forward to seeing this objective become a reality.”
James West, senior policy manager at Compassion in World Farming, commented: “Around 200,000 sows are confined in crates in the UK each year. Stuck in pens so narrow that they can barely move, mother pigs are forced to feed their piglets through bars. The use of these cruel cages causes unimaginable suffering.
The UK Government has promised to review the use of cages in British farming, and recent polling shows that the British public want a ban, with less than one in five people supporting the use of farrowing crates. It’s time for the Government to listen to public opinion and take the next step to facilitating The Crate Escape by finally publishing the long-awaited consultation.”
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Notes to editor
- Polling carried out by Survation via online panel, with 1,074 total respondents, on 2nd-3rd March 2023. Results released on 16th March 2023.
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
Pigs are sensitive and highly intelligent animals, and they are suffering on British farms. Across the UK, around 200,000 mother pigs (sows) are kept in ‘farrowing crates’—cages barely bigger than they are for up to five weeks at a time, several times a year.
What are farrowing crates?
Shortly before she is due to give birth, a sow is typically moved to a farrowing crate, a small metal cage which severely restricts the sow’s movement and denies her strong natural instinct to build a nest before giving birth.
Sows suffer when they are forced to spend much of their lives behind bars and a typical sow spends almost a quarter (22%) of her adult breeding life in a farrowing crate only slightly larger than she is, preventing her from turning around or caring for her newborn piglets in the ways she naturally would. This is the devastating reality for around 60% of mother pigs in the UK. Investigations show that living in such cramped conditions can clearly cause mental distress for the sows, and physical wounds from repeated rubbing against the bars are common.
Farrowing crates are used by some farmers to reduce piglet mortality however in well-designed and well-managed free farrowing pens piglet mortality can be as low as, or even lower than, in farrowing crates.
What’s the alternative to using farrowing crates?
Several indoor free-farrowing systems that permit the sow to move freely, whilst still reducing the risk of piglet mortality, are commercially available and in use in a number of countries, including the UK. Free-farrowing systems designed and produced in Britain are being used in the UK, USA and Canada. Farrowing crates have already been banned or severely restricted in Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Austria and Germany, and the European Commission has pledged to end the use of cages and crates for farmed animals by 2027.
Banning farrowing crates
Humane Society International/UK has joined forces with Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation and Compassion in World Farming for ‘The Crate Escape’—our campaign calling on the UK Government to outlaw the use of pig farrowing crates. The Government committed to review the use of farrowing crates in 2021, and it’s time for them to follow through on this commitment, starting with a consultation. We need our politicians, as well as major retailers, to financially support pig farmers to transition away from using farrowing crates.
HSI/UK commissioned a poll that revealed that less than 1 in 5 surveyed people support the use of farrowing crates on British farms.
Take action to ban farrowing crates.
You can also help animals at every meal by taking them off your plate.
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
Around 40% of pigs on British farms are already crate-free, but we need the government to support farmers to make that 100%.
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
Urge your MP to attend the debate on 17 March and speak in strong support of the bill
British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force chef instructors tried their hands at creating plant-based meals in a culinary masterclass held by Humane Society International/UK, Veganuary and Plant Futures
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Military chef instructors from across the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and Civil Service have taken part in a masterclass on plant-based cuisine as part of a culinary training workshop held by Humane Society International/UK, Veganuary and Plant Futures.
Chef instructors from the UK Defence Food Services Training Wing at Worthy Down, Winchester, undertook HSI/UK’s Forward Food training in January. The session covered the fundamentals of making flavoursome, plant-based dishes, which typically have a lower environmental footprint than meat and dairy options.
The day’s cooking sessions were mentored by HSI/UK’s Forward Food chef and renowned food writer Jenny Chandler, resulting in dishes such as oyster mushroom tacos with corn salsa, soba noodles in a rich umami broth topped with crunchy fresh vegetables, and creamy chickpea and butternut squash curry served with flatbreads and onion bhajis. Drawing on her experience of cooking on ships and in remote locations, Jenny advised the chefs on how to create healthy vegan meals even when working in small kitchens with limited equipment, such as in the field or on naval ships at sea.
The chef instructors also tried a variety of new and innovative products from across the plant-based industry at the Plant Futures innovation table, and took home goody bags filled with vegan food products courtesy of Veganuary.
Charlie Huson, HSI/UK’s Forward Food programme manager, said: “Delivering a Forward Food workshop to the chef instructors at Worthy Down was a pleasure. They were keen to learn how to create tasty, healthy plant-based dishes and are now well-placed to pass on this knowledge to their students. With more and more people reducing their consumption of animal products, HSI/UK’s Forward Food programme is equipping chefs with the skills to meet the rising demand for plant-based options. By supporting organisations like the Ministry of Defence – which serves millions of meals to military personnel every week – to put more plants on plates, we can help reduce demand for factory farming and combat climate change.”
Hannah Weller, corporate engagement manager for Veganuary, said: “Veganuary was delighted to have worked closely with Plant Futures and HSI/UK to make this plant-based culinary masterclass happen. The kitchen was filled with energy and creativity as the MOD chef instructors created colourful plant-based dishes, packed full of flavour which were a big hit with the military personnel who got to sample it all. Members of the MOD Veg Network, which joined the Veganuary Workplace Challenge this year, loved the food and are looking forward to seeing more plant-based meals in their mess halls soon! We look forward to working with the MOD further to support them on their plant-based journey.”
Indy Kaur of Plant Futures said: “It is an important moment in food when we see plant-based foods and new cooking techniques start to be integrated across all culinary disciplines. Highlighting the importance plant-based foods play in delivering diversified protein sources, healthy and wholesome nutrition and providing good hearty meals. A momentous occasion as we acknowledge this first of its kind workshop and continuing our conversations. With thanks to the MOD and Veg Network for their enthusiasm and drive to make this event happen along with HSI/UK and Veganuary, a good team effort all round!”
Major Javed Johl RLC, Food Services Training Wing, said: “As diets of choice increase in popularity among the UK public, the Armed Forces must reflect this in our offer to service personnel. Upskilling our Chef Instructors at the Food Services Training Wing is the first step to achieving this. In collaboration with HSI/UK, we have laid the foundations of introducing a healthier and more sustainable diet across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.”
Members of the MOD Vegan and Vegetarian Network attended tasting sessions throughout the day, and discussed following a plant-based diet while serving in the military.
It has been widely recognised that on average, animal-based products have higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based options. Reducing meat and dairy consumption presents a critical opportunity to decrease both the number of animals suffering on farms and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with animal-derived food.
More than 300 chefs have been trained through HSI’s Forward Food programme in the UK since its launch in 2017. By supporting chefs and catering managers to gain skills and confidence in delivering a variety of high-quality plant-based menu items, HSI/UK is improving the availability of plant-based options across the country and helping people make compassionate culinary choices.
About HSI’s Forward Food programme:
Forward Food is an initiative of Humane Society International, with the aim to encourage and enable the catering industry to shift the focus of menus away from meals centred on animal products and put more plant-based food on plates. Find out more at forwardfooduk.org.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens, senior media and communications manager, HSI/UK : sivens@hsi.org ;07590 559299
HSI/UK releases footage of animal suffering on fur farms in China, which exports millions of pounds worth of fur to the UK, renewing calls for a UK import and sales ban
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Heart-wrenching scenes of baby foxes, raccoon dogs and minks suffering on Chinese fur farms have been released by Humane Society International/UK as the animal protection charity renews calls for a ban on UK fur imports and sales. Millions of pounds worth of fur from China is imported into Britain every year, despite the UK having banned fur farming two decades ago on ethical grounds.
HSI’s investigation at nine fur farms in northern China — one of the world’s largest fur producing countries — focuses on a side of the fur trade rarely exposed in investigations, the suffering of babies and their mothers forced to live in cramped, filthy, unnatural conditions. Many of the older animals were found to be exhibiting behaviours signifying psychological distress, such as repetitively pacing their tiny cages. The film also showed a raccoon dog cub struggling to walk on wire mesh floor in a cage, adult foxes peering out from cages barely longer than their body length, and mink circling around in dirty cages, above piles of excrement.
Fur farming has been illegal in the UK since the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Acts came into force in 2003. Despite this, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs records show that £28,492,281 of fur has been imported to the UK from China in the last five years. HSI/UK is urging the Government to end this double standard by banning imports and sales of fur in the UK.
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “HSI’s latest investigation has once again highlighted the inhumane treatment animals suffer as fur fashion victims. The fur trade would prefer that the grim realities of fur farming were out of sight and out of mind, but as a country we owe it to these animals not to turn away, and to stop being complicit in their suffering. Many Britons will be horrified to find out that it is perfectly legal for fur from farms like those we investigated to be sold in Britain. A fur sales ban has the backing of over three quarters of the public, and should be an open goal for this Government to deliver on its ambition to be a world leader in animal welfare.”
National polling carried out in April 2022 revealed that 77% of British citizens think the Government should ban the importation of animal products such as fur, where the production methods are already banned in the UK. The #FurFreeBritain campaign has so far gathered over 1.1 million petition signatures calling on the UK to ban fur imports and sales.
In its Action Plan for Animal Welfare in 2021, the Government stated: “Fur farming has been banned on ethical grounds in England and Wales since 2000, and since 2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Whilst there are existing import restrictions on seal, cat and dog fur, it is still possible to import other fur from abroad, so we will explore potential action in this area.”
In May 2021 the UK Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK fur trade, with the stated intention of using the findings to inform possible future action. Around 30,000 responses were submitted before the consultation closed in June 2021, but 18 months on, officials are yet to release the results, or set out a policy response.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Humane Society International/UK celebrates “iconic moment” towards a #FurFreeBritain
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—British department store Harvey Nichols has confirmed that it will stop selling fur by the end of 2023, following an investigation into Chinese fur farms by animal protection organisation Humane Society International/UK.
Responding to the news, Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “Harvey Nichols going fur free is an iconic moment in our campaign for a Fur Free Britain. This world famous British department store has come to the inevitable conclusion that so-called ‘ethical fur’ simply doesn’t exist and fur farming flies in the face of any credible notion of sustainability. Harvey Nichols’ compassionate stance now leaves the handful of remaining retailers that continue to sell fur looking increasingly isolated.”
The news was confirmed today in a statement to The Mirror. When asked if Harvey Nichols will continue to sell fur products, following Humane Society International/UK’s latest investigation footage from fur farms in China, a spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing review of these practices and continued sustainability initiatives, Harvey Nichols confirms that it will phase out the sale of fur or fur-trimmed products both online and in stores, to be completely fur-free by the end of 2023.”
The well-known retail chain previously introduced a fur-free policy in 2004, however in 2013 it reneged on this policy and started selling fur products again. As of December 2022, Harvey Nichols was selling fur products from several brands including Yves Solomon, CP Company, Canada Goose, and Moncler. The latter two companies have previously also made commitments to phase-out fur from their designs, with Canada Goose stating they would stop manufacturing fur at the end of 2022, and Moncler stating their last collection using fur will be Autumn/Winter 2023.
HSI/UK wrote to Harvey Nichols in 2022 setting out the many ways in which conditions for animals on fur farms are fundamentally incompatible with the company’s Animal Sourcing Policy, which sets out a commitment to ethical treatment of animals, including ensuring freedom from fear, pain, distress and injury, and freedom to express normal behaviours in sufficient space.
The announcement makes Harvey Nichols the latest in a long line of retailers and designers that have turned their backs on fur in recent years, including Frasers Group, Farfetch, Net-a-Porter, Burberry, Chanel and Prada. The announcement signifies the accelerating decline of the fur trade and adds further pressure to the few remaining fashion brands that continue to sell fur to follow suit.
Humane Society International/UK works to end the fur trade globally and leads the #FurFreeBritain campaign for a UK fur imports and sales ban.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org
Ricky Gervais and Pete Wicks lend their support to Fur Free Britain campaign as Humane Society International/UK and FOUR PAWS UK launch new investigation and report exposing cruelty of global fur trade
Humane Society International / United Kingdom
LONDON—Politicians, celebrities and campaigners gathered in Parliament today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UK becoming the first country to ban fur farming, and to urge the UK Government to ‘finish the job’ by banning fur imports and sales. The Only Way Is Essex star Pete Wicks attended and spoke about his previous visit to fur farms, and a new video message in support of the #FurFreeBritain campaign from comedian and actor Ricky Gervais was shown.
Two decades after the last fur farm closed down, the UK continues to allow imports of fur from animals farmed and trapped overseas, creating an unacceptable double-standard. If fur is too cruel to produce here, it is too cruel to sell here, argue the campaigners.
With the support of 35 cross-party MPs, including Elliott Coburn, Maria Eagle, Baroness Jenny Jones and Dr Lisa Cameron who attended a Parliamentary reception sponsored by Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Daniel Zeichner MP in the House of Commons today, FOUR PAWS UK released a new report demonstrating the scale of abuse inherent in the trade and the role the UK continues to play in this cruelty. Attendees watched footage from Humane Society International/UK’s new investigation, undertaken on multiple fur farms in China, revealing the extreme suffering endured by raccoon dogs, mink and foxes for fur fashion. The shocking scenes showed baby animals kept in filthy, barren conditions, with many of the older animals found to be exhibiting signs of mental distress such as pacing and circling their tiny cages.
TOWIE star Pete Wicks was at the event supporting the call for a #FurFreeBritain. Reflecting on his experience of visiting Finnish fur farms with HSI/UK, Pete said: “Nothing can prepare you for how truly awful the fur trade is for these poor animals. We saw dead animals lying in the cages, fox cubs’ tiny paws falling through the wire mesh floor, and even one mink with a head wound being eaten alive by his cage mates. Looking into the eyes of these desperate animals, knowing that they were suffering simply to end up as a bobble on a hat, or a trim on a coat was so shocking. And to know that they could easily be killed for fur that ends up being sold in UK shops, was really upsetting. We simply cannot call ourselves a nation of animal lovers for as long as this cruelty is still being imported here, and while it’s still legal for it to be sold in our shops.”
In a video message, Ricky Gervais said: “The UK was the first country in the world to ban cruel fur farming, but 20 years later, the UK still has blood on its hands by importing fur from overseas. My message to the UK government is simple – end this double standard and BAN fur imports.”
There is strong public backing for a fur sales ban, with over 1.1 million signatures collected to date in support of a #FurFreeBritain. An April 2022 poll revealed 77% of British voters think the UK Government should ban the importation of animal products such as fur, where production methods are already banned in the country. The Government ran a consultation on the UK fur trade in May 2021 which amassed 30,000 responses, but has still not released the results.
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Daniel Zeichner: “Twenty years ago this month, the then Labour Government shut down the last UK fur farms for good when the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act came into force. However, 20 years on, despite the UK’s strong and unequivocal ethical stand against fur, we are now outsourcing our cruelty overseas. A Labour Government would take action on this double standard and deliver a fur free Britain.”
Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington said: “The British public rightly has high expectations that the government will deliver promised improvements in the laws that protect animals, and it’s important that we set high standards for the products that we allow to be imported and sold here. We rightly banned fur farming across the UK because it’s so cruel, and now we have the opportunity to lead the way again by banning fur sales, as California has done. The Government has already gathered 30,000 responses in its call for evidence on the UK fur trade, I look forward to seeing the results, which will undoubtedly help inform and underpin a strong policy position.”
Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: “Action on banning the UK’s trade in fur, and other hugely popular and promised animal welfare legislation, has been kicked into the long grass since last summer, and we urge Rishi Sunak and Therese Coffey to get back on track to deliver the Government’s much-applauded Action Plan for Animal Welfare. As politicians and the public start looking at what might be on the menu in manifestos for the next election, committing to ban the cruel and unnecessary fur trade is a wide open goal for all political parties, and we’re delighted with the strong cross-party support for the campaign. The future of fashion is fur free so the sooner we stop trading in cruelty the sooner the suffering overseas stops.”
Sonul Badiani-Hamment, FOUR PAWS UK country director, said: “Globally, the UK is lagging behind and propping up a dying industry. In 2021 Israel became the world’s first country to prohibit the sale of fur and 12 US towns and states have also banned fur sales. And it’s not just governments taking action; from the runways to the high street, the fashion industry has been leading the way for decades, with retailers and consumers alike shunning the cruel and exploitative fur trade. As we mark two decades since fur farming was banned in the UK, it is high time we fully address the UK’s role in what is left of the fur trade and stop importing and exporting cruelty for good. Only by embracing a Fur Free Britain can we help save the lives of millions of animals who are needlessly killed for this abhorrent trade.”
The Parliamentary reception coincided with the launch of an official e-petition calling on the Government to ban the import and sale of fur from all species.
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Media contact: Sally Ivens: 07590 559299; sivens@hsi.org