Solely Dedicated to Farmed Animal Welfare

Whilst we encourage our members to comply with other standards, we’re the only food label solely dedicated to the welfare of animals, concentrating our resources and efforts on improving the lives of farmed animals.

The information in this table is taken from an independently verified source.

Farmed Animal Welfare	Sustainability & the Environment	Fair Treatment of Workers	Organic	Dietary Needs	Food Safety	Place of Origin

RSPCA Welfare Standards

RSPCA Assured farms follow strict welfare standards, set out by RSPCA welfare scientists. This means that all RSPCA Assured certified farms offer a higher standard of care to their animals than is legally required.

The RSPCA standards have been developed with the goal of ensuring that all animals are reared, transported and slaughtered under higher welfare conditions and have everything required for a better quality of life. Whether they are kept on large or small farms, indoors or free-range, the RSPCA’s standards ensure that every aspect of the life of the animal is covered from birth or hatching right through to slaughter, including their feed and water requirements, the environment in which they live, how they are handled, their healthcare and how they are transported and slaughtered.

The RSPCA’s welfare standards are at the core of everything RSPCA Assured does and provide a benchmark for higher welfare farming across the UK and beyond. It’s therefore essential that they are underpinned by robust evidence from scientific developments and practical experience. When developing their standards, the RSPCA aims to promote the highest levels of animal welfare achievable in a commercial farming environment and strives to provide animals with the opportunity for a ‘good life.

What Makes RSPCA Assured Standards Different?

The RSPCA welfare standards that all RSPCA Assured members must adhere to are fundamental in maintaining a better standard of life for the animals but what does this really mean? Full versions of the RSPCA’s standards for each species can be downloaded. Here are a few examples of what makes the standards different from those used by other assurance schemes.

Farrowing Crates

Environmental Enrichment

Dustbathing

Raised Perches

Space

While still legal in the UK, farrowing crates are prohibited under the RSPCA standards so cannot be used on RSPCA Assured pig farms.

Laying hens, meat chickens, pigs, dairy cows, calves and turkeys must all be supplied with an appropriate amount of species-specific enrichment such as straw and/or objects to interest and engage them during the day and allow them to express natural behaviour.

Laying hens and meat chickens must be provided with plenty of suitable material they can use for dustbathing.

This is a natural behaviour and one which is important to the animals’ well being.

In England and Wales, we exceed legislation by insisting upon raised perches in laying hen houses to provide the birds with a refuge to rest and preen.

Laying hens, meat chickens, beef cattle, sheep, turkeys and pigs, must, in most situations, be given more space so that they can move around freely.