UK Green Party Takes an Amazing Stance on Animal Protection

If you ask anyone if they like animals or consider themselves “animal lovers,” the majority of people will overwhelmingly say “yes.” What’s more, animal cruelty is, on the whole, considered morally and socially unacceptable by pretty much everyone (however, what animals should fall under protection against cruelty is still unfortunately debated.)

Despite this clear consensus, animal issues have been typically left untouched by the “mainstream” world. Big media outlets usually avoid delving deeper into the most pressing animal issues and rarely, if ever, do political leaders address animal protection in their agendas.

A decade ago, we may never have heard “animal protection” uttered by anyone in the “mainstream,” but now we are seeing an upswing of attention paid to certain animal issues such as marine mammal captivity, thanks in part to the awareness spread by “Blackfish,” “The Cove,” and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

What’s more, we are seeing an increasing number of victories than we ever have before, aimed at protecting all different types of animals from harm.

Even politicians are getting into the swing of things. The U.K. Green Party, for instance, has recently taken the lead on animal protection by launching an animal manifesto for the 2014 European elections.

Awesome, right?

The party states that it is the “only major party to take animal protection seriously and take effective action.”

“From fighting the badger cull to the ban on animal testing of cosmetics, from working to end live exports to the seal fur ban, Greens in the European Parliament including Jean Lambert (London) and Keith Taylor (the South East) have shown they care about animal issues. We understand that people won’t stand for cruelty to animals and we want to be their voice and a voice for animals in Europe,” said Caroline Allen, Green Party MEP candidate, animal spokesperson, and working vet.

The Green Party’s manifesto covers factory farming, animal transportation and live exports, animal experimentation, wildlife crime, badger protection, and bullfighting.

On the issue of factory farming, the Green Party states that it is “bad for human health, the environment and for animals, who live in brutal lives in barren factories,” and in regards to animal experimentation, the party is calling for an end to “all animal testing” and is pushing for “EU funds to be used to develop the alternatives.”

Now, that’s what we call a platform!

While the elections will determine if Green Party members will be able to carry out their manifesto on a larger scale, the very creation of this policy illustrates that animal protection issues are finally getting pushed out into the mainstream world where they should have been all along. The future is looking up for animals!

Check out the Green Party’s full manifesto online in PDF form right here.

Image source: Stacey Cavanagh / Flickr