Solutions to the Animal Welfare Enforcement Problem: Better Funding and Shifting Cultural Attitudes

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Local authorities are drastically underfunded and need more funding to enforce animal welfare law
Funding should be directly related to the number of animals in their jurisdiction and the average amount of animal abuse in the constituency
Education and resources for local authorities regarding their responsibility for animal welfare law is lacking due to funding
The attitude that the RSPCA should solely deal with animal welfare enforcement needs to change
Animals are not seen as important because their welfare is left to a charity
There should be a cultural shift in valuing animals and their legal protections

Edie is the Managing Director and a Solicitor at Advocates for Animals, the first UK law firm dedicated to animal protection.

In this episode, we chat to Edie about representing The Humane League UK in the up and coming court case challenging DEFRA. The judicial review case will see Advocates for Animals argue that fast-growing chicken breeds are illegal under current animal welfare laws. We also talk through their enforcement work with Animal Equality, another first-of-its-kind case in the UK.

Edie talks to us about how using the law to protect animals is a neglected area of work and why she wants to see more advocates utilising this tool as an effective tool for animal advocacy.

Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:

Advocates for Animals website
Animal Law Foundation website
Enforcement problem report in collaboration with Animal Equality
The Humane League’s legal battle against DEFRA
Guardian article on THL’s legal case against DEFRA

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