Why animal law matters more than ever

When I founded The Animal Law Foundation in the United Kingdom, it wasn’t because I thought the law was lacking, it was because I believed it lacked attention.

Animal welfare law has existed in one form or another for generations. We have statutes, regulations, codes of practice, inspectors, prosecutors and courts. Yet, despite this legal framework, millions of animals continue to suffer in ways that are entirely avoidable and unnecessary. That contradiction fascinates me.

As a solicitor specialising in animal protection, I kept finding the same pattern: the law says one thing, but standard practice does another.

One such example is the fact that lobsters and crabs are protected under the law from avoidable pain and suffering at the time of killing, yet, despite this, they are boiled alive.

Whenever an animal welfare problem emerges, the immediate response is often to call for new laws. Of course when it comes to animals, new laws are needed in many areas.

Beyond that, however, the problem isn’t always an absence of legislation, but rather the way existing laws are being interpreted, enforced or simply overlooked.

I wanted to build an organisation that approached animal protection differently and closed this gap.

Rather than beginning with campaigning, we would begin with the law itself. We would ask difficult legal questions and analyse evidence. We would look closely at the actions of public authorities and examine whether legislation was actually being implemented as Parliament intended. And, where it wasn’t, we would challenge it.

That became the foundation of The Animal Law Foundation.

When laws fail animals in practice

Throughout our work, we have repeatedly encountered examples where legal duties exist on paper but fail to translate into meaningful protection in practice.

Whether through inconsistent enforcement, limited oversight, regulatory reluctance or narrow legal interpretation, there remains a significant gap between what the law promises, and what animals actually experience.

A legal right without implementation is of little comfort to those who it was designed to protect.

One area that has become central to our work is what we have called The Enforcement Problem. Across the UK, our research has highlighted just how inconsistent the enforcement of farm animal welfare law can be.

Inspection rates remain remarkably low, enforcement action varies significantly between authorities, and too often non-compliance carries little practical consequence.

Good legislation cannot achieve its purpose if it is rarely enforced.

The untapped potential of existing animal laws

I am convinced that we sometimes underestimate the potential of existing legislation. What other tool gives you actual leverage to challenge a system?

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is the bedrock of animal protection in this country. Yet twenty years after its introduction, I believe we have drifted away from its original purpose, most often bending in favour of commercial interests.

Too often the Act is treated as though it exists primarily to prosecute the worst examples of cruelty. Of course that is important, but Parliament created something much broader.

It established positive welfare duties, recognised animals as beings with needs, and created legislation capable of evolving alongside our understanding of animal welfare.

If we genuinely place animals at the heart of the Act, as I believe Parliament intended, it still has enormous untapped potential.

Using the law to create change

People have often commented on my drive and where it comes from. The honest answer is that it is driven by a combination of frustration with how we currently treat billions of animals and by the possibility that it does not need to be this way.

Again and again, I have seen how careful legal analysis can create meaningful change. Sometimes that change is highly visible. Like our work securing a recognition from the UK government that boiling lobsters and crabs alive is incompatible with the current law.

Sometimes it is quiet. Like when we secured a commitment for new guidance from the Scottish Government to better protect farmed fish.

Founding The Animal Law Foundation has also changed me personally. Leading an organisation has taught me humility, resilience and that changing systems is rarely quick and almost never straightforward.

There have been personal mistakes, setbacks, disappointments and occasions where progress has felt painfully slow.

But I have also been continually inspired by the people who work across this field – lawyers, academics, veterinarians, inspectors, campaigners, policymakers and supporters – who all share a determination to improve the lives of animals through thoughtful work.

As The Animal Law Foundation continues to grow, our mission remains remarkably similar to the one that inspired its creation: to scrutinise how the law operates in practice, to identify where animals are being failed, and to demonstrate that, when properly understood and properly applied, the law remains one of the most powerful tools we have for improving animal welfare.

Animal law is no longer a niche subject

Over the past few years, I have watched animal law develop into an increasingly recognised discipline. When I first entered this field, it was often viewed as something of a niche interest.

Today, animal law is taught in universities, discussed in legal journals and increasingly recognised as an area deserving serious legal analysis. There is also far greater public recognition that animals are sentient beings with interests that deserve legal protection.

That progress is encouraging and should continue to be built upon. We need to ensure that the legal protections Parliament creates genuinely operate as intended.

Animal protection should never be an afterthought within our legal system or be put beneath profit or tradition. This is the very reason animal protection laws exist.