Compassion in World Farming

Compassion in World Farming

Founded	1967 (1967)
Founder	Peter Roberts
Type	Charity
Tax ID no.	1095050
Focus	Animal welfare
Location	Godalming, UK
Area served	Worldwide
Method	Advocacy, public education, research
Key people	Philip Lymbery (Chief Executive)
Employees	69
Volunteers	7
Website	ciwf.org.uk

Compassion in World Farming is a campaigning and lobbying animal welfare organisation. It campaigns against the live export of animals, certain methods of livestock slaughter, and all systems of factory farming. It has received celebrity endorsements and been recognized by BBC Radio 4 for its campaigning. It has grown to a global movement with partners and supporters concerned about the welfare of farm animals.

Compassion in World Farming in the UK is a registered charity.

History

Peter Roberts, a Hampshire dairy farmer, founded Compassion in World Farming in 1967. After he realized there was public support, Roberts unsuccessfully appealed to contemporary animal welfare groups to campaign against factory farming. Undeterred, Roberts began his own campaign. Roberts retired in 1991. He was replaced as Chief Executive by Joyce D'Silva, who served until 2005 and now serves as ambassador. Philip Lymbery, co-author of Farmageddon, is the current Chief Executive. Compassion in World Farming has offices in Ireland, the Netherlands, France, and the United States. Representatives are located in Oceania, South Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. Compassion in World Farming was responsible for the veal crate ban in the UK, as well as bans on narrow stalls and chains on pregnant sows. The European Union recognised animals as sentient beings as a result of their petition.

Activism

Compassion in World Farming does not support violence or threats; it campaigns peacefully for the humane treatment of farm animals, which they accept will be killed and eaten. The London Evening Standard has called them "the most rational of the groups that campaign about animal welfare and the environment." In addition to their advocacy, they produce educational material for school children and have fought against what they called industry-sponsored propaganda. To celebrate good animal welfare, they present awards that include the Good Egg, Good Chicken, Good Dairy, and Good Pig. Their undercover investigations have revealed animal cruelty to hens, cattle, pigs, and sheep.

They advocate free range systems but accept straw-bedded indoor systems for pigs. They have warned about factory farming of dairy cattle, which they say is neither economically beneficial for farmers nor healthy for cows. They have advocated a complete ban on fur farming in Ireland, which they say is "one of the most serious animal welfare problems facing Ireland today." In 2002, they called for a global moratorium on all experimental or commercial cloning of farm animals. They oppose the practice of live export of farm animals for slaughter, instead advocating that the animals be slaughtered before transport. In support of this position, they have demonstrated in London, Ipswitch, Belfast, Ramsgate, and Dover. They have also fought to maintain a ban on the live transport of horses. They support a ban on foie gras, and call it "an example of intensive farming at its worst".

Celebrity endorsements have included Joanna Lumley, who spoke against long distance animal transport, and Paul McCartney, who advocated for reduced consumption of meat products. In 2010, Jo Brand, Bill Oddie, Zac Goldsmith, Marc Abraham, and William Roache endorsed Compassion in World Farming's protest against factory farming in Nocton. Early supporters include Spike Milligan and Celia Hammond, who protested battery cages.

Awards

In 2007, the charity won the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Award for the best food campaigner/educator. In 2009, they won the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Use of Interactive for their Chicken Out! website. In 2011, they won a Third Sector Excellence Award for their annual review and The Observer's Ethical Award for Campaigner of the Year.

See also

• 2010 Nocton Dairies controversy

External links

• Official website
• Compassion in World Farming, Registered Charity no. 1095050 at the Charity Commission