Tell us a bit about the RSPCA and its main battles?

There’s so much to say! This year is our 200th anniversary - that’s two centuries we’ve been changing laws, attitudes and behaviours towards animals. More than 400 animal welfare laws have passed since we were founded in 1824, and we have literally changed the way we all think, feel and act towards animals. 

We’ve fought for animals in homes, laboratories, farms, and the wild, and of course, we’ve rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed countless numbers, while always showing them all the compassion they deserve.

Our landmark anniversary is an amazing time to reflect on all that - and just how much society has changed for animals over the past two centuries. Indeed, I’m so proud that the RSPCA has been at the forefront of many of those changes - from stopping bear baiting and cockfighting shortly after our formation, to championing a Protection of Animals Act in 1911; and campaigning for laws like the Hunting Act 2004 and Animal Welfare Act 2006. But our influence has not just been legislatively. From setting up the RSPCA Fund for Sick & Wounded Horses during the First World War, to responding to the East Coast Flood of the 1950s - and so much more - we've been there. Into the 1970s, and the RSPCA Reform Group helped us develop a comprehensive animal welfare policy platform - further shaping how society - all of us - treat and think about animals.

Yet, there is still so much to do. Animals are arguably facing the biggest challenges of our history, through climate change, industrial farming, loss of habitat, the cost of living and the effects of the pandemic. Unless we put animal welfare on the mainstream agenda as one of the most pressing causes of our time, we risk animals lives getting worse, not better.

But we know that we can’t do this alone - we need as many people to join us as possible. So to mark our 200th anniversary this year we launched our million strong movement - we want a million people to join us in our 200th year and beyond, whether that is volunteering, giving their voice to animals or fundraising for us.

In which countries is the RSPCA present?

The RSPCA works in England and Wales - with dedicated staff and a proud network of branches operating in every single community of both nations. But as the world’s first animal charity, we sparked a global movement that spread around the world - so we’re also proud to have links with the animal welfare movement in all corners of the globe.

We have a dedicated international team who take our experiences and expertise of animal welfare in England and Wales all around the world - and have helped inspire and influence change right across Europe, Africa and Asia. We are also proud to be active members of Eurogroup for Animals, and a founding partner of the World Federation for Animals.

From humble beginnings at the Old Slaughter's Coffee House in Central London in the early 19th century, it's amazing to think what the RSPCA has gone on to achieve.

What about you? Tell us a bit more about your role within the RSPCA and why you joined.

It’s been an enormous privilege to serve as the RSPCA’s chief executive since August 2018 - I could not be prouder to lead this fantastic charity for the past nearly six years.

My background is probably not typical of many chief executives - I was the first person in my family to get GCSEs, let alone an A level or undergraduate degree.

Before joining the RSPCA, I spent time as director of innovation and development at leading disability charity Scope, before working in policy and external affairs at Relate - the UK's leading family and relationships charity - where I was later chief executive.

I’d always wanted to work in the voluntary sector because of my passion for creating a good society - inspired by where I grew up, in a former steel down battling with the social and economic effects of deindustrialisation. For me, a good society is one which is kind, inclusive and compassionate, and where everyone has the opportunity to thrive, not just survive - a better world in which we all take responsibility for our individual and collective impact on each other, on animals and on the planet.

Since becoming CEO at the RSPCA, we've of course endured a global pandemic, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and the continued, mounting threat of serious climate change - to name but a few of the challenges at the top of my in-tray, so it has certainly been an incredibly busy and challenging five and a half years. 

I am inspired every day by the work of our diverse, dedicated teams - from our frontline officers, to our animal centres, call handlers, science experts, campaigners and so many others; all dedicating themselves to making our world a better one for the animals we share our lives with.

And I think we’ve been making a real difference, from continuing to deliver frontline animal rescue services throughout Covid-19, to supporting people through these difficult economic times, with, among other things, a pet food bank scheme, which delivered 1.5 million meals to needy pets last year. We’ve secured tougher sentences for animal abusers (my proudest moment as CEO) while animal sentience has been recognised in law and we are on the cusp of seeing live exports banned, something we have been campaigning against for more than 50 years.

In 2021, we launched a new strategy Together for Animal Welfare, which set ambitious targets to cut animal neglect in half, see more than half of UK farmed animals reared to RSPCA standards, and secure a UN declaration for animals. It’s ambitious, and we need as many people as possible to support us, and to support the animal welfare cause if we are going to continue to change animals' lives now and in the future.

We know the RSPCA can't fix every problem animals face by ourselves - and our response is so much stronger when we work together. But that's why I see 2024 - our 200th anniversary - as the start of a new chapter in a remarkable story of helping animals; and a chance to transform again how we work together, everyone for every animal, to meet the challenges of the years, decades and centuries to come.

When did the RSPCA join Eurogroup for Animals and why?

We’re the OG! We’ve been involved since the very beginning - some 44 years ago, in 1980!

In fact, the RSPCA founded Eurogroup for Animals - because we know that the animal welfare sector is stronger when it works together and speaks with a united voice. Over more than four decades, we've worked closely with our partners and are proud of the campaign successes it has secured for animal welfare.

It’s really important to pay tribute here to our outgoing president Dr Richard Ryder; Eurogroup for Animals was very much his vision; and also to our former director general Peter Davies - who did inspiring work as president.

Since the UK left the European Union, our membership has remained vital as we negotiate the Brexit transition. The European Union remains the UK’s largest market for imports and exports. The UK also left the EU, but not Europe, and we know animal welfare transcends national borders. The ongoing war in Ukraine has highlighted the need for collaboration, and the RSPCA worked with and through Eurogroup for Animals as part of our response to helping animals there. 

What are RSPCA's main campaigning achievements in 2023? 

2023 was a really busy year for our campaigns; we saw an incredible 200,000 people sign petitions, write to the UK and Welsh Governments, contact their elected representatives and get their voice heard. We know animal issues are responsible for filling many politicians' mail bags - and we make no apology for that!

But it was a turbulent year in British politics. We are leading up to an election which polls suggest could lead to a change of UK Government for the first time in 14 years.

And there were challenges, and frustrations, for animal welfare policy. The UK Government sadly dropped its flagship Kept Animals Bill, which was a tough pill to swallow, and we had to mobilise very quickly to ensure lots of very hard work and policy commitments were not lost altogether. We also saw the UK involved with new free trade agreements that failed to include measures to ensure imports met the UK’s higher animal standards. At one point, the list of broken promises from the UK Government for animals was as high as 15 - but fortunately the tide could be turning in favour of animals again.

We’ve seen the fruits of our campaigning continue in recent weeks and months; with restrictions on the keeping of primates as pets, a ban on the live export of animals and new rules around pet theft back on the agenda. In Wales, we successfully campaigned for the UK’s first ban on the use of snares, while glue traps were outlawed too - offering a real lifeline for wild animals. The UK Government also committed to a consultation on mandatory food labelling, which could give millions of people more information than ever before about where the food they eat comes from.

How can the public act for the RSPCA?

There’s so many ways our supporters can get involved - and help animals.

None of our work for animals would be possible without our amazing supporters and volunteers. We have approximately 16,000 members, and last year more than 7,000 volunteers supported our work. We're lucky that many people choose to support us - but this year, we want to go even further by inspiring a million-strong movement to come together for animal welfare.

From transporting injured wildlife to rescue centres, to signing and sharing petitions, going into schools and chatting to kids about animals, or taking on a fundraiser for us, there are endless opportunities for people all over England and Wales to help us create a better world for every animal.

And it’s thanks to our kind donors that we can keep our work going. Last year, rates of animal abandonment reached a three-year high, and we’ve seen unprecedented demand on many of our services due to the cost of living crisis. A few pounds really can make all the difference and help keep our rescuers on the road.

Words to live by?

Anyone who follows me on X will know I regularly tweet about cake (carrot cake being my favourite!); so I subscribe to the adage "a party without cake is just a meeting”!

I’m also always inspired by Margaret Mead’s quote - “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”. It really highlights the power of people. Indeed, many charities start by a group of people coming together who aren't happy with something in society and want to see it change; that is the story of the RSPCA and from those humble beginnings - a global movement sparked.

And it’s perhaps a bit of a cliche in the animal welfare world now - but it’s always hard to look beyond Mahatma Gandhi’s great quote - "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". As the RSPCA turns 200, we can be proud of the moral progress we’ve seen in this country - but there’s still so much more work for us all to do.