Dear Colleague,

The following article summarises the animal-related policies of the Labour Party, the Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and Animals Count, in the lead-up to the UK 2010 general election.

Knight A. Which party would animals vote for? Vet Practice 2010; 42(3): 10-11.
http://www.aknight. info/pages/ publications/ miscellaneous/ politics. htm

ANIMAL welfare issues such as hunting and animal experimentation are an important election issue for 41% of the British public, according to a recently-published YouGov poll. Yet, rarely do political parties have strong policies to protect animal welfare. Our political party, Animals Count, was therefore created to remind politicians that voters care about animals.

In the lead-up to this UK election, we sought a series of meetings and discussions with serving MPs and MEPs in the main political parties. We sought to discern their policies on animal issues, and to encourage the adoption of animal-friendly policies.