Animal welfare in the United Kingdom
Stacked rows of 'colony' cages - which house multiple hens per cage - inside a typical UK egg factory farm in 2020. | |
| Legislation | Animal Welfare Act 2006 (England) Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 |
|---|---|
| Number of animals slaughtered annually for meat production | |
| Total | 1.18 billion (2022) |
| Per capita | 17.41 (2022) |
| Proportion of population that does not eat meat | |
| Vegetarian | 5% (2024) |
| Vegan | 2% (2024) |
Animal welfare in the United Kingdom relates to the treatment of animals in fields such as agriculture, hunting, medical testing and the domestic ownership of animals. It is distinct from animal conservation.
Around 7% of the population, or about 4.7 million people, do not eat fish or meat. According to research by the RSPCA, seven in 10 children in 2024 owned a pet (71%), as did half the adult population (52%). That same year, a majority of British people, or 68%, described themselves as animal lovers.