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Animal Welfare

The Church of England has regularly stated its concern with the welfare of animals.

In 2000, the Board for Social Responsibility produced a briefing paper on foxhunting.

In 1996 the Synod debated animal welfare, arising from developments in the 1990s. One was the growth in public awareness of and protest against the export of bull calves for veal production and the conditions under which they were being transported. Another was the spread of Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy (BSE or 'mad cow disease') which had dire consequences both for animals and the farming community and associated concerns. The text of the motion, carried by Synod, can be read here.

Earlier, in 1991, following a debate in General Synod the previous year, a Working Party produced a statement of Christian Stewardship entitled Christians and the Environment. The motion as carried by the Synod at the 1990 debate follows:

'That this Synod, recognising the welfare of animals and their just treatment as an essential part of our responsibility towards creation, calls upon the Board for Social Responsibility urgently to prepare a statement of Christian Stewardship in relation to the whole of creation to challenge Government, Church and the people to engage in a critical review of human responsibility to the living environment.