Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) is a campaigning and lobbying

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

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 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

for its campaigning. It has grown to a global movement with partners and supporters concerned about the welfare of farm animals.

History

Peter Roberts and Anna Roberts were

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

dairy farmers, who founded Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) in 1967. After they realized there was some public support, the Roberts couple had unsuccessfully appealed to contemporary animal welfare groups to campaign against factory farming. Undeterred, the Roberts's began their own campaign. Peter 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. CIWF has offices in the UK, Italy, Netherlands, France, Poland, the United States, Brussels and China. Representatives are located in Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, South Africa, and Sweden. CIWF 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. In June 2023, Emma Silverthorn, the granddaughter of Anna and Peter Roberts, published a biography of the Roberts and a history of the charity titled
Roaming Wild: The Founding of Compassion in World Farming'
.

Activism

Compassion in World Farming does not support violence or threats; rather, it campaigns peacefully for the humane treatment of farm animals, which members accept will be killed and eaten. The ''

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

'' has called it "the most rational of the groups that campaign about animal welfare and the environment." In addition to advocacy, it produces educational material for school children, and has fought against what it calls industry-sponsored propaganda. To celebrate and promote good animal welfare practices, it presents awards including the Good Egg, Good Chicken, Good Dairy, and Good Pig. Its undercover investigations have revealed animal cruelty to hens, cattle, pigs, and sheep. CIWF advocates free range systems, but accepts straw-bedded indoor systems for pigs. It has warned about factory farming of

dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...

, which it says is neither economically beneficial for farmers nor healthy for cows. It has advocated a complete ban on fur farming in Ireland, which it describes as "one of the most serious animal welfare problems facing Ireland today". In 2002, it called for a global moratorium on all experimental or commercial cloning of farm animals. It opposes the practice of live export of farm animals for slaughter, instead advocating that the animals be slaughtered before transport. In support of this position, its supporters have demonstrated in London, Ipswich, Belfast, Ramsgate, and Dover. It has also campaigned to maintain a ban on the live transport of horses. It supports a ban on

foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...

, calling this "an example of

intensive farming Intensive agriculture, also known as intensive farming (as opposed to extensive farming), conventional, or industrial agriculture, is a type of agriculture, both of arable farming, crop plants and of Animal husbandry, animals, with higher levels ...

at its worst". Celebrity supporters have included

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

, who spoke against long distance animal transport, and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, who advocated for reduced consumption of meat products. In 2010, Jo Brand,

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English actor, artist, birder, comedian, conservationist, musician, songwriter, television presenter and writer. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinton ...

Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist who served as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environmen ...

, Marc Abraham, and William Roache endorsed CIWF's protest against factory farming of cattle by Nocton Dairies. Early supporters include

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

and Celia Hammond, who protested against battery cages.

Awards

In 2007, CIWF won the

Food and Farming Award for the best food campaigner/educator. In 2009, it won the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Use of Interactive for their Chicken Out! website. In 2011, it won a Third Sector Excellence Award for its annual review and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''s Ethical Award for Campaigner of the Year.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Compassion In World Farming 1967 establishments in the United Kingdom Animal charities based in the United Kingdom Animal welfare organisations based in the United Kingdom Godalming Organisations based in Surrey Organizations established in 1967

History

Activism

Awards

See also

References

External links