Thanks so much for all your wonderful support this year.
We have been busy with our three wildlife campaigns throughout 2012. We have attended meetings and had individual conversations with politicians including the Prime Minister and Cabinet members to introduce our campaigns.
Some MPs have featured us on their websites, follow our twitter account and have retweeted our tweets on animal welfare issues. Some MPs have worn the Blue Fox pin at the Conservative party conference and in the House of Commons!
We were often to be seen in Westminister attending Associate Parliamentary Group For Animal Welfare meetings, Environmental Wildlife Crime Audit meetings, reception events and briefings to MPs to help advance animal welfare objectives.We presented our own talk with Humane Society International UK on a close season for hares before MPs at the Associate Parliamentary Group For Animal Welfare in the House of Commons in February. Our campaign for a close season for hares was included in the parliamentary ‘House’ magazine in an article written by Adrian Sanders MP.
In February ,we were also featured on ITV and BBC news along with MPs, supportive animal welfare organisations and Bill Oddie speaking out against the badger cull in Parliament Square.
Conservatives Against Fox Hunting organised and jointly hosted with Humane Society International UK, the first ever hare protection reception for nursing hares in the House Of Commons in June this year. 3 cross party MPs kindly hosted the event for us and 14 MPs attended the event. Over 144 MPs supported the EDM 2531 for a close season for hares.
Our campaign against fox hunting was featured on the Conservative Home website in August throughout the final week of the Olympics in which we celebrated our Olympic cool sports
We also launched our new Blue Badger website against the badger cull in September which three Conservative MPs and some Conservative Association Chairs provided quotes for against the cull. Our involvement with Team Badger ( the coalition of animal welfare organisations against the badger cull) meant that we all worked and continue to work together to protect badgers from the cull. Blue Badger was thanked by a Conservative MP for assisting MPs with information on the badger cull during the badger cull debate in the main chamber and this was recorded in the Hansard notes.
Our three wildlife campaigns were shown on the 200 television plasma screens at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham throughout the four day duration of the conference in October. We lobbied over 35 Conservative MPs at the conference to support vaccination for badgers rather than a badger cull.
We have also been reported in national and local newpapers this year including, the Sunday Express, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Mail, The Big Issue, Resurgence magazine, ‘Protect’ magazine by the League Against Cruel Sports and ‘Wild Times’ by Care For the Wild International and Politics. Co.UK website.
We gave a talk before leading animal welfare charity representatives on Animal Behaviour and Campaigning organised by Learning About Animals and the event was sponsored by the Donkey Sanctuary. We have spoken about our campaigns on live radio and the Matthew Wright show on channel 5 tv.
We are now members of the Partnership For Action Against Wildlife Crime ( PAW)
Our Co founder was awarded the International Fund For Animal Welfare’s Campaigner Winner 2012 award which was presented at a reception in the House of Lords in October by Baroness Gale and Brian May of Queen. Bill Oddie, MPs and peers were also amongst the guests.
It has been an active year, and we have many plans for 2013!
We are all volunteers who share the passion to help make a difference to advance animal welfare issues.Thank you for your valued support
Have a happy Christmas and Happy New Year!
Best wishes,
The Conservatives Against Fox Hunting Team.
