Kind to Animals
Leading the way on Animal Welfare for 200 years.
Legislation
The UK was the first country in the world to introduce animal welfare legislation way back in 1822 and has been a leader in this field ever since. Today we have amongst the strictest animal welfare laws in the world. UK legislation includes all of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)’s animal welfare standards, one of only 13 countries globally who can make this claim. Alongside legislation the UK also has extremely strict penalties for breaches of any legislation with up to 5 years in jail and unlimited fines.
Five Freedoms
The Five Freedoms is a framework that was originally developed in the UK in the 1960s and has since been adopted globally and forms an integral part of the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.
Freedom from hunger, malnutrition and thirst
British sheep always have access to clean water and adequate nutrition.
Freedom from fear and distress
British farmers care for their sheep and will always avoid causing unnecessary stress and pain. All wool is the UK is non-mulesed.
Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort
British sheep are shorn at least once a year, this is for the comfort and health of the sheep. They also have adequate shelter at relevant times of the year.
Freedom from pain, injury and disease
This is a crucial element for any British farmer who will continually monitor and manage their flock checking for disease
and injury.
Freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour
British sheep roam naturally in our beautiful countryside.
The Five Freedoms underpin all of our animal welfare work. They represent a duty of care that everyone who is responsible for animals must understand and meet.
RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 marked a huge step forward for animals in England and Wales, recognising that prevention is better than cure when it comes to suffering.
Chris Sherwood (CEO, RSPCA) – commenting on the Animal Welfare Act
This landmark legislation sends a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated, and offenders will face the full force of the law.
Rishi Sunak (UK Prime Minister, 2023) – commenting on the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act
Shearing
British Wool run world renowned shearing courses training between 800-1,000 shearers every year and have done so since 1992. An integral part of the course is animal welfare ensuring sheep are shorn in a way that causes the animal no stress or pain.
The vast majority of shearers in the UK will have attended a British Wool course during their career. We are the envy of the world with regards to our shearing training programme and regularly train shearers from around the world.
Farmers are trained and experienced in shearing, and care deeply for the wellbeing of their animals. It is done professionally, humanely, and with welfare at the forefront.
National Farmers Union (NFU) Cymru
Animal welfare is a crucial element of all our shearing courses, we train people to handle the sheep in a humane way and one that causes the animal the least amount of stress.
Richard Schofield, Shearing Manager, British Wool
British wool is a sustainable, natural product — and one that comes from a process that, when done correctly, improves the welfare of the animals.
National Farmers Union (NFU) England
We shear for the benefit of the sheep. If we didn’t take the wool off, we’d have lots of problems with blowfly, laying their eggs in the back end and even the shoulders of the sheep. These eggs would hatch into maggots, which literally eat the sheep alive.
Gareth Wyn Jones, Sheep Farmer
Wearing a thick, heavy fleece during warm summer months is uncomfortable and stressful for sheep. Shearing during the late spring/early summer months is ideal – there’s enough wool growth to keep cool in the summer (and avoid sun burn) with a full fleece in the winter to keep warm.
Richard Schofield, British Wool Shearing Manager
Farmers take their work very seriously. In my experience, living and working around Thirsk, the animals are extremely well looked after, to the highest standards of animal welfare.
Peter Wright, Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet
