Animal Kindness Index reveals 86% in the South West have acted to help animals

The RSPCA has just published a new regional animal kindness league table which shows how the different regions compare when it comes to animal compassion – and the charity has revealed how people in the South West of England shape up.

People in the South West have shown animal kindness during the past year with 86% taking direct action to help animals, the RSPCA’s new Animal Kindness Index reveals.

The 2023 Animal Kindness Index – a groundbreaking survey from the RSPCA, Scottish SPCA and Northern Ireland-based USPCA – is a UK-wide survey into people’s attitudes towards animals.

The survey quizzed people about the actions they have taken during the past year to be more kind to animals and the environment.

The results showed that 86% in the South West had done at least one of the actions listed below within the last 12 months – highlighting the simple steps people can take in their own lives to help promote and encourage animal kindness.

Actions taken included:

● Feeding the birds
● Reducing the purchase rusage of single use plastic
● Donating to animal charities / buying products from animal charities
● Creating a habitat for wildlife (eg: in your garden)
● Reducing / stopping eating meat
● Buying products with a higher welfare standard (eg RSPCA Assured)
● Sharing a missing pet post on social media
● Taking part in a campaign to improve animal welfare (eg: signing a petition)
● Reducing / stopping eating consumption of dairy and animal products (other than meat)
● Doing a litter pick
● Adopting an animal from a charity
● Lobbying Government officials to implement more animal welfare protective measures
● Volunteering for an animal shelter / for an animal charity

Pos Region / nation Percentage carrying out direct acts of kindness

1 South West of England 86%

2 North West of England 85%

3 East Midlands 83%

4 = East of England 82%

4 = South East of England 82%

6 = West Midlands 80%

6 = Yorkshire & The Humber 80%

8 = North East of England 79%

8 = Wales 79%

10. London 75%

The RSPCA wants to re-energise the nation’s love and activism for animals – and has launched a new ‘Kindness Quiz’ to help people understand what more they can do to create a country, and world, that is kinder to animals of all shapes and sizes. Members of the public can take the RSPCA’s Animal Kindness Quiz online: www.rspca.org.uk/kindnessquiz

But while the Animal Kindness Index does show people are taking many positive steps to improve animal welfare, the survey also revealed that animal welfare is threatened by a behaviour gap between people’s desire to be kind to animals and the impact of many of their other everyday choices.

The charity said that while 74% of people in the South West say they are animal lovers, government policy and industry practices have normalised everyday animal suffering involved on farms, in labs and in entertainment to such an extent that many people are unaware of the reality of the impact their lives and actions have on animals.

It also showed that the cost of living was continuing to impact animals, with animal welfare at risk of “sliding down people’s priorities’ ‘ amid sky-high interest rates, rocketing food bills and the economic downturn.

Lack of awareness and transparency means people are often inadvertently fuelling, funding and furthering poor practices towards animals because they don’t understand the harms these cause.

For example:

● 87% of people in the South West (84% across the UK) of people believe breeding animals with genetic health problems is unacceptable – but the registered number of French Bulldogs, whose extreme flat-faced features cause severe breathing problems, has soared from 2,771 in 2011 to more than 54,000 in 2021 .

● 75% of people in the South West (72% across the UK) believe chickens are sentient and 66% (59% across the UK) sometimes or always check labels before they buy animal products, but 90% of the roughly billion chickens slaughtered for meat in the UK each year are fast-growing breeds, genetically engineered to produce the maximum amount of meat in the shortest time at the cheapest price, leading to severe health and welfare issues.

● 39% of people in the South West either think animals should either never be used in a way that causes harm (compared to 43% across the UK) or only when there is no feasible alternative and for human benefit 43% (compared to 37% across the UK) – yet more than five million animals continue to be used in scientific research in the UK every year while the UK Government invests less than 0.6% of its research budget on non-animal alternatives. This means the public has no choice but to use medicines, products and services which have caused severe suffering to animals.

● 59% of people in the South West (compared 59% across the UK) say it’s not okay to dress animals up for fashion, but there are still 27,000 searches a month for costumes for dogs that spike much higher for Halloween and Christmas. And a record 11 million tuned in to watch the I’m a Celebrity final last year; a show which features animals getting stressed, scared and squashed during its Bushtucker Trials, even though 55% of the public say it isn’t acceptable to use animals for entertainment.

Emma Slawinski, RSPCA director of policy, advocacy and public affairs, said: “Our new Animal Kindness Index shows that people in the South West care deeply about animals and want to do their best for them, but there is a gap between this and the reality of society’s impact on animals.

“People struggle to do their best for animals because government policy and industry practices are obscuring the everyday suffering of animals on farms, in research and in entertainment, in the name of profit. We all need to take more responsibility for informing ourselves about the way in which our choices impact animals.

“87% of people in the South West want animal welfare protected by politicians but in the last few weeks we’ve seen the UK Government, in an act of potential anti-kindness, roll back on crucial promises leaving animals unprotected and consumers in the dark. The Kept Animals Bill, which promised to finally end live exports and the gruelling journeys suffered by farm animals, to end the keeping of primates as pets, to prevent the import of dogs with horrifying cropped ears, and so much more, has been dismantled. While we remain hopeful that the UK Government will move quickly to bring these important measures into law through other means, and glad to hear their reassurance that this will happen, this is clearly vital as we strive to be a kinder nation.”

Other key findings from the index include:

● Harmful dog breeding practices (46%) were the most important animal welfare issue for people, followed by the puppy trade (42%) and then moving away from intensive farming (38%)
● Four in ten pet owners had to take action, such as going without food, going to foodbanks or stopping visiting a vet, due to financial pressures and one in four said their pet had suffered as a result
● Cost of Living is still threatening the welfare of pets: 40,000 people visited the RSPCA’s ‘unwanted pet’ web page so far this year, a 72% increase on the same period last year
● People are still turning to DIY, cheaper options for caring for pets, with 45,000 searches for giving paracetamol to a dog in April, up 13% on the same period last year
● 83% believe animal welfare should be protected by the governments through legislation
● 80% of people think animals should either never be used in a way that causes harm (43%) or only when there is no feasible alternative and it benefits humans (37%)

The Animal Kindness Index is released as the charity marks one year to go until its historic 200th birthday – meaning it is two centuries since the RSPCA was founded in 1824, sparking the modern animal welfare movement. However, while there has been seismic progress for animals over those two centuries, the publication of the Kindness Index comes alongside a grim warning that welfare standards now risk backsliding.

Emma added: “We are a nation which wants to be kind to animals – and our Kindness Index once again shows that people not only label themselves as animal lovers, but want action to make our society a better place for animals.

“We are celebrating 200 years of the RSPCA next year and there have been huge leaps forward for animals but we are arguably at one of the most critical points for animal welfare in our history. 69% of people who took our survey said animal welfare had improved compared to 50 years ago and in some cases that’s true. However, we also see animals being intensively farmed on a scale the world has never seen before, wildlife is under unprecedented threat from climate change and the cost of living crisis is threatening people’s ability to care for their pets.

“In times of crisis, animal welfare can slip down the political agenda and we’re now very concerned that our hard-won standards risk backsliding. People have been clear they want the UK Government to step up and protect animal welfare.

“We need the public’s help telling the UK Government to deliver on everything that was in the now abandoned Kept Animals Bill. Because while everyone can do their bit to make the world a better place for animals, we must see action at the very top too. As politicians have dithered over this Bill, animals have suffered.”

People can support the RSPCA’s campaign to put pressure on the UK Government to deliver the commitments in the Kept Animals Bill online.

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