At the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) we are actively promoting the MY World campaign: we asked 200,000 of our supporters to vote on their global post-2015 priorities and in just two weeks thousands have done so. In addition, our celebrity ambassador, Grammy-nominee singer Leona Lewis, has urged her 1 million+ Twitter followers to join WSPA in making their voices heard.
But why are we getting involved? Can animals be affected by or have an effect on issues like food security and public health? The answer is yes, on a vast scale. Development professionals must consider the reality that over 1 billion of the world’s poorest people depend on animals for jobs, food, income, transport, social status and cultural identification. Healthy animals are crucial to the survival and opportunities of whole communities.
Better animal welfare enhances the benefits that the poor gain from their animals as well as protecting animals from avoidable pain and suffering. The wellbeing of animals and people is inextricable. This is why the international community must urgently recognise animal welfare as an essential element of sustainable development, and why it is one of our core goals to achieve this.
We know that helping animals helps people. Global action on animal welfare principles will have significant positive impacts on poverty eradication, food security, public health, climate change and the preservation of biodiversity. We are excited that the MY World survey is giving our supporters and others the chance to add animal welfare to their list of priorities for the post-2015 debate. We will continue to promote the campaign to our supporters and partners across the globe and are excited to see the outcomes.
Find out more at www.wspa-international.org