SPCA joins alliances for the finned and feathered

As new members of the Open Wing Alliance and Aquatic Animal Alliance, we are uniting with other welfare organisations to improve the lives of chickens and aquatic animals.

SPCA works to improve the lives of all animals in our communities, including the farmed, finned, and feathered. This includes advocating for them at government level, engaging with food businesses and industry groups, and running an independently-audited animal welfare certification programme.

Globally, more chickens and fish are farmed for meat than any other vertebrate animal. Unlike chickens farmed for meat (a single species), farmed fishes include numerous species. In Aotearoa alone, over 120 million chickens are slaughtered for food per year and over 500 million fish were slaughtered for food in 2018. SPCA recognises that all animals are equally deserving of protection from suffering, pain or distress - fish and chickens as much as any other animal.

The Open Wing Alliance is a coalition of over 80 member organisations spanning 63 countries that work together to improve the welfare of chickens.

The Open Wing Alliance achieves wins for chickens by demanding improved animal welfare policies from food corporations. Members share knowledge, resources and people power to work towards improved lives for meat chickens and an end to the use of cages for egg-laying hens.

Alliance members have already helped secure 2,000+ cage-free commitments and 400+ meat chicken welfare policies from food corporations across the world.

Created by the Aquatic Life Institute (ALI), the Aquatic Animal Alliance (AAA) is a global coalition of 80 advocacy organisations that believe aquatic animals should have lives free of suffering.

The Aquatic Animal Alliance was modelled after Climate Justice Alliance and Open Wing Alliance and aims to unite animal non-profits to set welfare standards for aquatic animals as high as possible.

The AAA has created the first and most comprehensive guide to welfare for wild and farmed aquatic animals. More details are available here.

SPCA has joined the growing list of members, that includes Animals Australia, SAFE and Animals Aotearoa, Compassion in World Farming, The Humane League, Mercy for Animals and many others, to work together to increase our impact and efficacy in advocating for aquatic animal welfare.