Over the last five years, opinion polls commissioned by the RSPCA has consistently shown that the general public are very keen to see animal welfare improving or feel that they are behaving in a way that considers the welfare of animals.
Since 2007 more than seventy per cent of people have consistently responded they believe that for a society to be truly civilised, animal welfare must be a key priority. Animal welfare has also by a small percentage been consistently rated as a highly important ethical consideration.
Each year that the public has been asked whether they think it is important that animal welfare is something that young people learn about when they are at school, between 84 and 90 per cent have responded positively.
Since 2005, the proportion of chickens produced in the UK reared to higher welfare standards has risen from three per cent to 20 per cent in 2009. When asked if animal welfare is an important consideration when chicken is bought, over 70 per cent of those questioned agreed it was important. These two differing figures suggest a number of things: consumers have good intentions about the sort of chicken they are buying but don't always purchase the higher welfare option; they may be confusion with labelling; price may be a barrier; or difficulty in finding higher welfare products.
When consumers are questioned about whether or not they purchase higher welfare labelled eggs, that is Freedom Food, barn, organic and free-range, 56 per cent did opt for the higher welfare option. This is more complementary to the actual production figures of eggs with where the percentage of higher welfare eggs produced in the UK has risen from 37 to 45 per cent between 2005 and 2009.
For more information, read the 'public opinion' animal welfare indicator.
