About us
WE EXIST TO INSPIRE EVERYONE TO CREATE A BETTER WORLD FOR EVERY ANIMAL
Animal welfare is everyone’s welfare. That’s why we’re putting society back at the heart of the RSPCA. We’re rallying humanity to create a better world for all. We know we can’t do it alone. But we can if we work together, everyone for every animal.
Who we are:
The RSPCA is the world’s oldest and largest animal protection organisation – inspiring everyone to create a better world for every animal.
We were founded in 1824 by a group of revolutionaries – including anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, Irish MP Richard Martin and the Reverend Arthur Broome – sparking an animal welfare movement that spread around the world.
What we do
For 200 years we’ve been changing laws, attitudes , behaviours and lives for billions of animals across England and Wales and around the world. We investigate cruelty and neglect, and rescue animals in urgent need, and RSPCA rescue teams work with staff and volunteers across our network of hospitals, centres, branches, and partners to rehabilitate, release or rehome a huge variety of species.
Through our campaigning and advocacy work over the last two centuries, we’ve helped to change more than 400 laws – improving the welfare of millions of animals in homes, on farms, in labs and in the wild. We work to change industries, ending cruel practices that harm animals here in the UK and internationally. Through our RSPCA Assured farm scheme we promote higher welfare farming, assuring more than 4,000 farms. We change behaviours, through our education and prevention work in schools, organisations, businesses and communities to empower everyone to be kinder to animals.
Our 135 branches in England and Wales work with communities – around 7,500 amazing volunteers do everything from collecting animals, fostering, dog walking, and campaigning, to becoming Wildlife Friends.
Across England and Wales, we have around 400 animal rescuers investigating cruelty and neglect every day of the year.
Our four hospitals and clinics, as well as 14 animal centres and four wildlife centres offer expert treatment and compassionate rehabilitation with the aim of finding loving new homes or releasing animals back to the wild. And we work around the world, beyond borders, using our voice, our expertise and our profile to drive change for animals in partnership with others.
In two centuries, we’ve improved the lives of millions of animals. We have a rich history but we are not just reflecting on the past. As the world changes and the threats facing animals mount, we must rise to meet them. The times we are living through with climate change, factory farming, wars, and a cost-of-living crisis demand urgent responses.
That’s why 2024 isn’t just our 200th anniversary, it’s a new chapter in our story. This is our chance to rally humanity and inspire people to work together, everyone for every animal. Because a world that’s better for animals is better for all of us.
We change animals’ lives
by rescuing those in urgent need and rehabilitating, rehoming and releasing them through our local branches, animal centres and hospitals across England and Wales.
We change laws
by advocating for meaningful policy reforms and inspiring the public to push for positive change locally and globally.
We change industries
to improve animals’ lives, for example, in our work with governments, industry and farmers to create a more compassionate farming system.
We change minds
through prevention and education, demonstrating the human-animal connection to encourage kindness and respect for animals.
We achieve impact
through our advocacy and influence, advice and care, from our frontline rescue teams, hospitals and animal centres and through our local branches, volunteers and partners who are the heart of communities.
