Celebrating Our 10 Year Anniversary in 2024

Founded in 2014, AIA is celebrating its 10 year anniversary by taking a look back at some of its achievements over the past 10 years.

Faiths Working Together for Animals

AIA has formed many alliances, including our member and affiliate organisations, our diverse and esteemed patrons, our partners and the organisations we have become members of. These alliances enable us to work with others to achieve our objectives for animals, as we are stronger together.

Member Organisations: We have built up a unique alliance of the world’s most influential, faith-based, animal advocacy organisations as members and affiliate organisations.

Patrons: we have established an impressive and diverse list of patrons.

Memberships: We have become a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) accredited organisation and have joined UNEP’s Faith for Earth Coalition. We have joined other coalitions such as the World Federation for Animals (WFA), Eurogroup for Animals and the UK Centre for Animal Law (ALAW).

Partners: We have partnered with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the Charter for Compassion, Veganism in Education (VinE), RE Today, the Interfaith Vegan Coalition (IVC) and the Peace Advocacy Network (PAN).

In 2024 we signed the WFA’s pledge ‘A Promise to Animals & Our Future‘.

Five Year Strategy 2022-2026

Our five year strategy 2022-2026: Faiths Working Together for Animals was launched in 2021, with eight key ambitions which we have since worked to achieve, outlined below. The full strategy can be read here.

Education

Religious Education Resources: Working with RE Today and Veganism in Education (VinE), we launched our joint free Religious Education resources in January 2023. These enable teachers and pupils to explore, through critical, objective and pluralistic RE lessons, questions around the moral status of animals and ethical veganism as a worldview. Our patron, Peter Egan provided an excellent introductory video which can be viewed here.

Spirited Arts Competition: Along with VinE, we sponsored an animal theme in NATRE’s Spirited Arts competition in both 2023 and 2024 and received over 4,000 brilliant entries from school children from ages 4 to 18. The artwork was accompanied by some excellent RE. Full details of the competition and the galleries can be seen here.

Other Resources: Other resources we have compiled on the AIA website include Books about Faith and Animals, Books about Faith and the Environment, Webinars, Videos, Articles, Animal Spirit Magazine, Links to Members’ Magazines.

Reactive Campaigning in Response to Events

In addition to AIA’s proactive advocacy work we also react to current situations of animal cruelty. AIA’s International Campaigns Secretary, Marian Hussenbux is responsible for AIA’s global animal advocacy work. This involves writing to people of influence about animal suffering and cruelty around the world, often in support of campaigns run by other organisations. Full details here.

We have also been coalition members with other animal welfare organisations, jointly signing many of their animal welfare open letters.

The Parliament of the World’s Religions

The Parliament of the World’s Religions (PoWR) convened in Chicago in August 2023 and we attended, with our U.S. colleagues at the Interfaith Vegan Coalition, Climate Healers and Compassion Consortium, where we co-presented a number of panels and religious observances that focused on animals. We were also joined by our member organisation, Catholic Concern for Animals. A considerable amount of work went into the panel applications and we were delighted that all our proposals were accepted. The presentations and religious observances went down well and many good contacts were established there. Next year we will be preparing for the next convening of the PoWR in 2026.

Our Patron, Dr Nayana Shah is a trustee of the PoWR and presented to the 2024 AIA AGM on “The Parliament of the World’s Religions: Faiths Shaping our Common Future”. The presentation and more information about the 2023 convening in Chicago can be read here.

United Nations

In 2021 AIA received accreditation from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which gives it consultative status with UNEP and allows us to attend their meetings and engage with them on policy matters. We also became a member of UNEP’s Faith for Earth Coalition.

In February 2024, AIA and its member organisation Catholic Concern for Animals, attended UNEA-6 in Nairobi to meet with the key players at UNEP’s Faith for Earth Coalition and to support the WFA in trying to put animal issues into the proposed resolutions. We were delighted to attend the launch of Al Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth there, which is the Islamic sibling to Laudato Si’. Written by Islamic scholars and chaired by Faith for Earth, it included very positive statements about animal rights. We are actively promoting this excellent faith-based document.

2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals

We are collaborating with Beyond Cruelty in their campaign for a UN Sustainable Development Goal 18 ‘Zero Animal Exploitation’ and to put animals into the existing 17 sustainable development goals, details of which can be seen here.

Replacing Laboratory Animals with Human Relevant Test Methods

One of our key goals is to campaign to replace the use of animals in laboratory testing with 21st century human relevant test methods. Animal experiments are based on outdated, 75 year old legislation which has not kept up with the advances in modern technology. The only thing preventing pharmaceutical companies from moving to human relevant test methods is a lack of political will to work with the regulatory bodies to update the regulations.

We set up a Laboratory Animal working group, chaired by Dr Andre Menache.

We have launched two petitions. The first one was to ask GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca to hold a meeting with us and it received over 77,000 signatures. The second one was to ask the UK government to implement, without delay, 21st century human based test methods for the sake of good science, patient safety and animal welfare.

Dr Menache has introduced a number of webinars and written many campaign letters. Full details can be seen here.

Promoting a Plant Based Diet and Ending Factory Farming

One of our main objectives is to promote a plant based diet and end factory farming. In March 2024 we hosted a webinar prepared by our affiliate organisation Catholic Action for Animals, titled ‘An Introduction to Animal Rights from a Faith Perspective: New Insights into Animal Agriculture’ with a panel of top speakers discussing the urgency of moving to a plant based diet. The speakers included Bishop John Arnold, Bishop of Salford, the lead Catholic Bishop on environmental matters in the UK and the Bishop’s Conference spokesperson on the environment. Details can be read and the recording viewed here.

Shining World Compassion Award

In 2023 AIA was awarded a Shining World Compassion Award from Supreme Master Ching Hai, for which we are most humbled and grateful. Full details here.

Celebrating and Remembering

Interfaith Celebration for Animals: Each year since our inception, our director, Rev. Feargus O’Connor has held an Interfaith Celebration for Animals around World Animal Day on 4th October, firstly at Golders Green Unitarians and latterly on zoom.

Animals in War Memorial: Each Year since our inception, we have joined the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals (ASWA) at their annual Animals in War Memorial in Park Lane, London on Remembrance Day.

Animal Interfaith Week: Since 2022 we have joined the UK Interfaith Week which runs for a week from Remembrance Day, with our own Animal Interfaith Week which includes the Animals in War Memorial service and AIA’s AGM with a guest speaker. See here for Animal Interfaith Week 2022 and 2023.

Golden Rule Day: The 5th April is Golden Rule Day and in 2023 and 2024 we joined with the Charter for Compassion and the Interfaith Vegan Coalition to celebrate with a zoom webinar focusing on ‘The Golden Rule and Compassion for All Animals’. Full details here.

Inaugural Meeting – February 2014

AIA’s founders at the inaugural meeting at Golders Green Unitarians, London in February 2014. From left to right: Nitin Mehta MBE, Rev. Feargus O’Connor, Sarah Dunning, Dr Andre Menache, Judith Wilkings, Marian Hussenbux, Lara Balsam, Anant Shah OBE, Chris Fegan, Dr Richard Ryder and Bharti Taylor. Photo by Barbara Gardner.

And Finally

An MBE was awarded for AIA’s achievements in the King’s 2025 New Year Honours List

Cartoon by Neil Kerber, cartoonist for Private Eye

We are delighted to announce that the Animal Interfaith Alliance’s work for animal welfare was recognised by the announcement of an honour for its Founder and CE, Barbara Gardner in the King’s 2025 New Year’s Honours list.

The MBE was for “Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Animal Interfaith Alliance, and Trustee and Treasurer, RSPCA. For services to Animal Welfare”.

Barbara said: “I am delighted that ‘animal welfare’ has been rewarded in the honours system. This is a wonderful recognition of animal welfare and of all the devoted people who work tirelessly to promote it. We must build on this to work for a kinder world for animals”.

The Animal Interfaith Alliance is a registered not-for-profit company number 8958588