A History of Improving Animal Welfare
UFAW’s history can be traced to the founding in 1926 of the University of London Animal Welfare Society (ULAWS) by Major Charles Hume. The name was changed to the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) in 1938, reflecting the increasingly wide range of people and institutions involved.
From the first days, UFAW’s stated aims were:
- To enlist the influence of university men and women on behalf of animals, wild and domestic;
- To promote, by educational and other methods, interest in the welfare of animals in Great Britain and abroad;
- To lessen, by methods appropriate to the special character of a university organisation, the pain and fear inflicted on animals by man;
- To obtain and disseminate accurate information relating to animal welfare;
- To further and promote legislation for the protection of animals.
These aims continue to drive UFAW’s work today.
In 1987, the Council Members became also the Trustees of the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA). The HSA and UFAW are financially independent but have worked closely together for many years to advance farm animal welfare. The HSA works to improve farm animal welfare ‘beyond the farm gate’ - during transport, at markets and at slaughter.
For more information about the HSA visit www.hsa.org.uk
