Animal Law Working Groups
A-LAW has four Animal Law Working Groups covering companion animals, farmed animals, wild animals and animals used in science.
Each group helps to lead and shape A-LAW’s response to legal and policy matters affecting the interests of animals in different contexts.
They do this by carrying out legal and policy research, hosting occasional events, and responding to government proposals and consultations.
If you would like to find out more about how you can get involved in our Working Groups, please email info@alaw.org.uk.
Companion Animals
Our policy objectives
What we’re doing to further the interests of the millions of companion animals we share our lives with.
The Companion Animal Law Working Group guides A-LAW’s response to legal issues relating to the welfare of animals kept as companions. We aim to improve the lives of companion animals and their owners through efforts to reform relevant laws, to educate the public, and to promote understanding of existing laws and policies. Our work includes responding to relevant government consultations and calls for evidence; examining legal decisions that concern companion animals; assisting with pet-friendly initiatives; and more.
Although the UK arguably has some of the strongest laws in the world to protect domesticated animals kept as companions, there are still gaps and many people are unaware that there is a lack of protection for invertebrate species. Similarly, many studies have documented problems with the enforcement of laws and we want to see more robust legislation, properly enforced.
We also believe in looking at the bigger picture such as whether some species (such as non-domesticated exotic animals and primates) are suitable to be kept as companions at all and, if they are, how society can safeguard their welfare. We seek to inject legal expertise into these important debates that civil society is grappling with about our relationship with animals and how we can adequately safeguard their interests.
We contribute legal expertise to policy initiatives and publish legal briefing papers, as well as ensuring that public debate is properly informed. We also raise awareness of animal interests within traditional areas of law such as housing (no pet policies) and family (including the impact of domestic abuse upon companion animals and the red flags that might raise for other vulnerable groups) and we promote the seriousness of animal abuse within the criminal justice system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you facing a legal issue relating to your companion animal? A-LAW cannot provide legal advice, but we do have some answers to frequently asked questions.
Farmed Animals
Our policy objectives
What we’re doing to further the interests of the millions of animals farmed for food and other commodities.
Our priority is the advancement and protection of farmed animal interests through evidence-based and ethical laws that are properly enforced. The group is collaborative, inclusive and encourages those with differing views and experiences to participate in, and engage constructively with, our work.
The scale of animal farming is such that farmed animal law and policy has the potential to impact the lives of significant numbers of animals. Although the UK was historically a leader in farmed animal welfare, there are many areas in which the law has failed to sufficiently keep up with public expectations and contemporary animal welfare science. Furthermore, consistent and effective enforcement remains a significant challenge.
Much of our work focuses on contributing a legal perspective to public consultations about farmed animal welfare law and policy, as well as carrying out or contributing to projects that seek to advance farmed animals’ interests through law.
Animals in Science
Our policy objectives
What we’re doing to further the interests of the hundreds of thousands of animals used in scientific research.
The Animals in Science Working Group is committed to ensuring that the legislation regulating the use of animals in research is adequately applied and implemented, which is more likely to happen if there is proper scrutiny, transparency and accountability. We aim to work with others to achieve these goals.
The Animals in Science Working Group wants to see legislation that fully supports the principles of reduction, replacement and refinement. We believe that to give full effect to those principles, issues around governance, accountability and transparency need to be addressed.
Wild Animals
Our policy objectives
What we’re doing to strengthen the welfare protections offered to all types of wildlife.
The United Kingdom is blessed with a plethora of wild animals which roam its lands, from the most elegant birds of prey soaring over northern dales, to beavers enhancing the wetlands of Scotland, to red squirrels repopulating Welsh forests.
Notwithstanding such rich natural history, our wildlife is increasingly threatened and persecuted through various forms of human activity. As well as habitat loss caused by development and expansion, our wildlife often faces the threats from targeted actions such as shooting, trapping, hunting and other acts of direct cruelty.
The Wildlife Law Working Group seeks to work with all stakeholders involved in the protection of wildlife to ensure that the interests of animals are safeguarded. The Working Group recognises that the interests of wildlife can only be secured by taking a holistic approach to the problems posed and therefore pursues this mission statement in various ways.
The Working Group not only works to review and reform the legal regime protecting the welfare of wild animals, but also collaborates with other organisations to ensure the standards enshrined in legislation are enforced in practice and properly reflect the highest possible wellbeing for animals.