About Us

For a world where animal welfare matters, and animal cruelty ends

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is the world’s largest network for animal welfare. It brings together 910 member societies in 153 countries and a whole community of individuals around the world who care about animal welfare.

WSPA’s animal welfare programmes include a mix of direct fieldwork, campaigning, education and training, and member society development. With so many global issues and limited resources, WSPA has created a framework for the prioritisation of its work.

WSPA‘s work is focused on four priority animal welfare areas:

1. Companion animal - responsible pet ownership, humane stray management, and preventing cruelty.
2. Commercial exploitation of wildlife - intensive farming, and cruel management and killing of wild animals for food or products.
3. Disaster relief for animals - providing relief to animals in distress from man-made or natural disasters.
4. Farm animals - intensive farming, long distance transportation, and inhumane slaughter of domestic animals for food.  

Our mission
To create a united global animal welfare movement.

Our vision
To make animal welfare matter and animal cruelty end.

We will provide support, coordination and leadership to engage the power of the collective international community to tackle global animal welfare problems that no single society can address alone – creating relentless international momentum for positive change.

Our ambition
To create a world in which animals are regarded as sentient, and whose needs are understood, regulated and protected by enforced legislation.

Building a united global animal welfare movement
The 25 year path towards achieving our goal has taken WSPA into the farthest flung reaches of the planet and has resulted in our presence today in over 150 countries worldwide.

With consultative status at both the United Nations and the Council of Europe, WSPA is the world‘s largest federation of animal welfare societies.

WSPA has 13 offices and hundreds of thousands of supporters worldwide.

Learn more about WSPA

Download WSPA‘s Strategic Plan >>

View the Organisation Structure >>

View WSPA’s International Board of Directors >>

Learn more about WSPA‘s work >>