The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is one of the largest animal welfare and conservation charities in the world. The organization works to rescue individual animals, safeguard populations, preserve habitat, and advocate for greater protections. Brian Davies founded IFAW.

IFAW was founded by Brian Davies with the goal to stop the commercial hunt for whitecoat seals on the east coast of Canada. Stichting IFAW was the first IFAW office outside the United States. It gave IFAW additional support to fight the seal hunt, which at the time led to a storm of protests in the Netherlands.

Rating Information This charity's score is 99%, earning it a Four-Star rating. If this organization aligns with your passions and values, you can give with confidence.

Animal rights means that animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, or experimentation. Animal welfare allows these uses as long as “humane” guidelines are followed.

Through community engagement, IFAW aims to strengthen and nurture the relationships between humans and animals around the world. The lives of communities, the animals in their care and the wildlife around them are inextricably linked through the habitats, shared resources and the interactions they have.

We're the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and we've been here for animals since 1824. We're the world's oldest and largest animal welfare charity, with the primary focus of rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming or releasing animals across England and Wales.

We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats. The problems we're up against are urgent and complicated.

MP Richard Martin Since 1822, when Irish MP Richard Martin brought the "Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822" through Parliament offering protection from cruelty to cattle, horses, and sheep, an animal welfare movement has been active in England.

Where is the international headquarters located? Washington, DC with offices around the world, including the International Operations Center located in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts.

Ensuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.

An animal experiences good welfare if the animal is healthy, comfortable, well-nourished, safe, is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear and distress, and is able to express behaviors that are important for its physical and mental state.

Animal welfare goes beyond the conservation of a species, as it includes care for the well-being of each individual animal in its own right. This is why the objective purpose and specific function of this Act is to protect all animals; meaning every animal as an individual without distinction.