Animals Feature in the Queen’s Speech – History in the Making
During the Queen’s speech today, Her Majesty stated that new legislation will be introduced in the forthcoming parliamentary session to “ensure the United Kingdom has, and promotes, the highest standards of animal welfare”, and PETA is now expecting the most progressive set of animal welfare bills of our generation!
The inclusion of animals in the Queen’s speech marks an important moment in history. It acknowledges that our society’s understanding of who other animals are has evolved and that our laws must evolve to reflect that new awareness. We must no longer think of other living, feeling beings as there for the taking and ours to dominate and instead recognise them as sentient beings like us, with families, cultures, languages, intelligence, and emotions, deserving of legal protection from human exploitation, abuse, and neglect.
We Brits see ourselves as a nation of animal lovers. In fact, we were the first country in the world to introduce animal protection legislation, and the speech today represents the next step in honouring that legacy and defining the type of country that we want to be in the future. We’re urging the government to make good on its commitment to animals, starting with banning live-animal export and the importation of fur, hunting trophies, and foie gras.
While the government does its part, we can and must do ours by refusing to support industries which treat animals as mere objects to exploit for financial gain – and that means leaving animals off our plates, out of our wardrobes, and out of our entertainment.
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