One thing that anyone working or volunteering in the animal welfare world knows and wants, is that animals need better protection. Be it from abandonment, bad breeding or over breeding, selling for profit, farm animals, abuse or more. But many people and smaller organisations feel helpless as the scale of the change needed feels so distant or impossible.

So, the questions so often are: what can I really do, and where do I start?

It’s worth remembering that political change doesn’t just happen in Parliament, in fact, that’s usually the last place things start.

Change starts in communities, animal shelters and rescue centres, and even in conversations between passionate individuals. For small animal charities, advocacy can feel daunting, but lobbying for improved legal protections is one of the most powerful ways to create lasting impact for animals across the UK, because when laws happen, change or get strengthened, they go on to help an almost infinite number of animals going forward (unless repealed which is very rare).

At The Belforte Foundation, we’re proud to support grassroots organisations doing vital work on the ground. But we also recognise the importance of addressing the systems that allow animal cruelty and neglect to persist.

So let’s look at how small animal charities can engage in lobbying and influencing policy to help try to shape a better, kinder and more compassionate future for all animals.

Understanding What Lobbying Means for Small Charities

1. First we need to understand what lobbying is, and isn’t!

Lobbying is the act of influencing those in power, here in the UK that is typically MPs or Lords, local councils, businesses, or often government departments (Defra), to create or change legislation.

For animal charities, some examples could include:

• Pushing for stronger enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act
• Calling for bans on exploitative practices like the illegal breeding trade
• Advocating for central funding for rescue centres and wildlife protection groups
• Highlighting gaps and weaknesses in protections for animals so often overlooked in legislation – like mass bred farm animals, or exotic animals (eg snakes, reptiles, amphibians, fish etc)

The good news is that you don’t need a large legal or political team to lobby effectively. Some of the bigger animal charities have anything from one Public Affairs Officer, right up to whole teams that work on this, but this is far from realistic for the size of charities that we at The Belforte Foundation support. What matters is clear messaging, real stories, garnering the public and media, and persistent outreach.

2. Start with Evidence-Based Advocacy

Before you approach any policymaker, make sure you can back your position with data and real-world examples. Track trends in animal neglect or cruelty in your region, numbers of abandonment, sales or adverts of animals that don’t comply with legislation etc, and compile case studies, and show where the law is falling short. Don’t just write or attend a meeting or go to press with anecdotes.

Key Tip:

Working with animal charity coalitions or umbrella organisations can give your arguments more weight and also can be more realistic for your time and resource. As a small, hand on, organisation, you will have data and stories that the larger organisations just won’t have.

3. Engage Your Local MP

Your local Member of Parliament is elected to represent your concerns. Many MPs are sympathetic to animal welfare, especially when they see how it affects local constituents (and ultimately happy constituents should mean re-election). MPs time and time again confirm that animal welfare related issues are one of the main topics in their ‘postbag’.

Doing this isn’t as hard as it seems, and there are a couple of easy tactics:

• Request a meeting or invite them to your rescue centre or animal hospital if you have one, (also a great way to engage press and get publicity for your charity and your campaign at the same time). You can also attend their surgeries where they meet frequently with local constituents.
• Present your concerns and ask them to support relevant parliamentary motions or debates that you are aware of. These can be Bills, EDMs (Early Day Motions), or things like Parliamentary Debates, which are often borne out of e-petitions that have gathered over 100,000 signatures.
• Remember to always follow up afterwards with a thank-you, links to data sources and a recap of your campaign and conversation, along with ongoing regular updates.

Key Tip:

Use simple, impactful messaging. MPs are busy, so get to the point, and make it memorable. From experience, they warm better to positive and supportive approaches rather than blame.

4. Mobilise Your Supporters

Your community of supporters can be a powerful lobbying force, so if you have a campaign ask, you should encourage them to:

• Write to their MPs
• Sign and share petitions
• Participate in coordinated days of action
• Attend peaceful demonstrations or awareness events

Tools like change.org, the Government’s e-petition website, or other organisations’ campaign sign-onsor petitions can really help scale your lobbying efforts.

5. Use Local Media to Influence Public and Political Opinion

Media coverage can shape policy by building pressure on decision-makers. If an MP sees that something is getting headlines in local or national press, they know it is important in their area and will take it more seriously. So always use your local media as an early stage lobbying tool. You can share stories of neglected animals, underfunded shelters, or systemic gaps in enforcement with local newspapers, radio stations, and even national outlets. Again, avoid anecdotes and bring data to the table.

Always ensure your media work has clear calls to action (known in campaigning as CTAs) for change in legislation or local policies. This raises both awareness and urgency.

6. Collaborate with Other Animal Welfare Charities

They say teamwork makes the dream work – and this is very true in lobbying too. One voice is good, but many voices are better… and louder.

Join or form local networks of like-minded organisations to align your goals and present a united front to the press and decision makers. Recent examples of strong functioning coalitions that you may have heard of that have driven strong pressure and/or legislative change in the animal welfare world are the Lucy’s Law campaign and coalition (to ban the third party sale of puppies), Finn’s Law (to enhance legal protections for service dogs), Coalition Against Trophy Hunting (to ban the import of animal parts killed through trophy hunting into the UK), The Crate Escape Coalition (to ban pig farrowing crates) and many more.

Larger charities often have campaign resources you can adopt or adapt. We would always recommend that you don’t be afraid to use them, and don’t reinvent the wheel – as small charities you are busy and time is precious, use your time and resource in the most effective way for animals, even if it means your name isn’t as prominent.

7. Be Persistent…. Not Just Passionate

Policy change is rarely immediate. In fact, it usually takes years and years. A petition will not lead to a new law overnight, but sustained, respectful lobbying can influence consultations, inform legal amendments, and build the momentum for future change.

It’s always good to be joined up, so keep detailed records of meetings, responses, and correspondence, so you can demonstrate long-term engagement and build upon past efforts.

8. It’s OK for Lobbying to be Secondary

For the vast majority of small animal charities, direct rescue work will always be at the heart of what you do, so don’t worry that you can’t dedicate all, or much, time to lobbying. But even by dipping your toe into the advocacy space, however small, you can amplify your impact beyond your centre, hospital, and local area.

Lobbying doesn’t require a team of experts, or a fancy office in Westminster. It just takes structure, passion, persistence, and a clear vision of a better world for the animals you care so much about.

At The Belforte Foundation, we believe systemic change is equally as important as hands on. That’s why we welcome applications from organisations that not only care for animals, but speak up for them too.

Visit www.belfortefoundation.org.uk to learn more about how we help humans to help animals through our small animal charity grant programme. You can also get in touch for advice on your lobbying work.