Help us achieve global recognition that animals matter, that they can feel pain and can suffer and that we have a responsibility to put an end to cruelty around the world. Along with the RSPCA, WSPA, HSI and other like minded organisations, we seek 10 million signatures to let the governments of the world know we are serious about achieving a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare at the United Nations.
Campaign background
The 'ANIMALS MATTER TO ME' campaign is the public face of a government-led initiative to persuade the United Nations to adopt a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, similar to earlier initiatives in the sphere of human rights and the environment.
Five UN member states (Costa Rica, Kenya, India, Czech Republic and the Philippines ) have already formed a steering group committed to taking the initiative forward to the United Nations.
A number of leading animal welfare organisations are members of a core working group to help progress this initiative, they include Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and the Humane Society International (HSI).
In principle, the Universal Declaration will call on the United Nations to recognise animals as sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain and suffering, and to recognise that animal welfare is an issue of importance as part of the social development of nations worldwide.
Billions of animals around the world are affected by humans, and rely on people to treat them with compassion. But there is little national and no international protection for animals when that concern is absent.
Industrial animal farming is responsible for the biggest areas of suffering for animals in the world today, with approximately four billion mammals and 55 billion poultry used in farms globally to produce cheap meat, milk and eggs. The majority are housed in dismal conditions where their welfare needs are not being met.
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