Animal Friends Charity Review 2021

Protecting animals – It’s in our DNA! Wes Pearson | Chief Executive Officer

In 2021, we made great strides in expanding howwe support animal welfare while helping protect the planet, dedicating our time, skills and expertise to helping 137 animal welfare and conservation charities, both at home and abroad. From signing petitions that call for better laws to improve our relationship with animals and nature, joining forces with Whale and Dolphin Conservation as they fight to better protect our future through their Climate Giant Project, volunteering our time to lend a helping hand at Birmingham Dogs Home , partnering with the Tree Council to create new habitats to help UK wildlife thrive, campaigning to protect some of our beloved festive animals , and so much more besides – we’re proud to be part of a community that is fighting for change where it is needed the most. You can read more about all of the wonderful charities we have supported in 2021 over the pages that follow.

Built for a purpose. Unmistakeably different. Sincewewere founded in 1998, we’ve workedwithhundreds oforganisations around theworld to help provide care and support for abused, neglected and endangered animals. In 2021 alone, we gave back £1,121,988 to some truly exceptional causes who share our vision of a future where all animals, from the domestic to the exotic, are protected and can live happy and healthy lives. But fighting the symptoms doesn’t prevent the cause. That’s why we don’t just give funding to animal welfare charities and conservancies, we also use our voice and our platform to raise awareness of the challenges and issues that are still causing innocent animals around the world to suffer.

A bold new chapter Looking ahead into the new year our aim is to do more, give more and go further than ever before to support animals around the world. We will play our part in protecting the environment and reducing the impact of our footprint to ensure that vulnerable wildlife, habitats and our planet are safeguarded for future generations. We are proud to be working alongside some truly unique and innovative organisations that are fighting to protect vulnerable ecosystems, educate communities and build sustainable solutions for the benefit of all. From the small community run charities to the organisations tackling global climate change and animal welfare issues, we want to use our shared drive and passion to help shape a better future for all the incredible animals our beautiful world has to offer.

Together, we can take action today to better protect their tomorrow.

Thank you We never cease to be blown away and humbled by the incredible volunteers, workers and fundraisers all over the world in their selfless pursuit of protecting vulnerable animals. Your dedication to animal welfare both in the UK and globally is nothing short of inspiring and we would like to offer you all our heartfelt thanks for everything you do, and to all our customers who, through their loyalty and support, make it possible for Animal Friends to give more, protect more and do more. We are all part of the change!

A note from our Head of Charity, Marion Foster

2021 was not the yearwe might have hoped for, with animal charities still suffering from the aftermath of a year of lockdowns and restrictions and not able to fundraise as they might have normally done in a life before COVID-19. We were inundated with requests from charities around the world, the impact of a pandemic still evident as we read the heartfelt stories from across all seven continents. It made sense that this was the year we gave more than we’d ever done before, making sure we helped as many

animals as we could, no matter where they were in the world. We donatedmore than £1.1million over the year, with our funding continuing to help cover the costs of feeding, vet fees, and general maintenance and upkeep,while also supporting biggerprojects at home and abroad. We are very proud to have been able to help in ways we’ve never done before and know that Animal Friends has made a real difference in 2021.

Some of our proudest moments of 2021 Covering land, sea and air, pets and wildlife, we’ve given over £6million to more than 600 charities across all seven continents since we were founded to bring about positive change for animals over 20 years ago.

From the big to the small, the new and the old, we take a look back at some of last year’s giving.

Using our voice to make a difference for those without one... Like most of the nation, we are crazy about animals and believe our pets are part of the family and we wouldn’t ever be without them. Sadly though, there are still those out there that would willingly cause harm or neglect innocent animals and it needs to stop! We are committed to doing all we can to support animal welfare at home and around the world and determined to use our voice and our platform to bring about necessary change to further protect vulnerable pets and wildlife. Here are a couple of ways in which Animal Friends has and continues to fight for those with no voice. Pets are more than just property! Pet theft is devastating, and the current punishment doesn’t reflect the emotional trauma of losing an animal or the devastating conditions stolen pets are made to endure. Currently, under English and Welsh law, pets are still classified as property, just like a mobile phone or laptop. We don’t think this is good enough and while change is slowly coming, there’s still more to be done.

Pet theft must be taken seriously, which

is why as part of our ongoing commitment to promote animal welfare, in 2021 we joined forces with Pet Theft Reform. After a lengthy battle, the Government has announced plans to add a new criminal offence for dog abduction in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill but it has not included cats in the proposed legislation. We’re committed to working with Pet Theft Reform to make sure cats are given the same rights as our canine companions. Changing the lawone paw step at a time Not only that, we’ve also been advocating for Fern’s Law to be incorporated into the newAct, making it a compulsory requirement for vets to scan for microchips and a single, centralised microchip database to be created, accessible by police, vets, authorities and rescues to provide quick unifications and to support criminal investigations.

Finn’s Law On 29th June 2021, theAnimal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill – also known as Finn’s LawPart 2 – passed into lawin England andWales. Under the previous legislation, themaximumpenalty for crimes against animalwelfarewas just sixmonths but the newBill nowmeans that themaximumsentence for certain animal crueltyoffences, such as dog fighting or abuse of puppies and kittens, is fiveyears. We are proud to have played a small part in helping bring about this important change.

Unfortunately, the animals that end up being smuggled can have serious health problems after experiencing horrible conditions, poor treatment and travelling for long distances without proper care or nourishment. Our donation helped the charity’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) – which tackles serious and organised animal crime such as the illegal puppy trade – rescue a total of 130 dogs and puppies. It’s estimated to cost the charity £632 to care for a pup from the moment it’s rescued to the moment it finds its forever home. The reason we do what we do

Working together to amplify our voices

Our donation has helped dogs like

Molly whose mother was rescued by our officers in 2018 from Shropshire, alongside

The RSPCA’s commitment to the betterment of animal welfare through rescuing, rehoming and advocating on behalf of all animals closely alignswith our ownmission to help create a better life for every animal. In 2021, we not only contributed £50,000, we also actively supported the charity’s #ForPupsSake campaign calling on the UKGovernment to change the law to crack down on the illegal puppy trade and stop puppies being imported into the country fromoverseas. Our voices were heard and as part of the new Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, the UK Government intends on making changes restricting the amount of puppies and dogs that can travel under pet travel rules.

54 other dogs and puppies. Molly has since been adopted and is living a life so different to what she might have had to endure if she had been born under the care of her mother’s abusers. By teaming up with the RSPCA and coming together to give a voice to those without one, we’ve had a direct impact on legislation and changes to the law that will make a meaningful difference for vulnerable animals across the country.

2021 donation:

Together we helped save Christmas... In December, we donated £100,000 to help keep polar bears, penguins, owls, snow leopards and narwhals safe and give our favourite festive creatures a hope of a better tomorrow. We asked our customers, followers and the general public to help us protect some of the world’s most vulnerable creatures and their fragile habitats by voting for the charity they felt was most deserving of the top prize of £50,000 . We were blown away by the incredible response to our mission in saving Christmas and by the time voting closed on 10th December, we’d received over 15,935 votes!

Here’s how the £100,000 was shared... Whale and Dolphin Conservation: £50,000 People’s Trust for Endangered Species: £20,000 WWF: £10,000 The Owls Trust: £10,000 UK Antarctic Heritage Trust: £10,000 Thank you to everyone who took part, your support made a massive difference in ensuring these animals remained cared for and protected and in keeping Christmas safe for us all to enjoy.

A pawsome cause protecting some iconic wildlife

The Tracker Academy trains disadvantaged individuals from underprivileged rural South African communities in the hope of a better future for them and the continent’s last remaining wild areas and the animals that live within them. The charity is restoring indigenous tracking knowledge and equipping studentswith the tools necessary

Whywe supported Our giving was enough to fund six students and covered the cost of all training, food, accommodation, learning materials, uniforms, assessments and field trips, supporting the charity in their efforts to safeguard the fragile and endangered African wildlife. The Tracker Academy’s innovative approach to creating sustainable ecosystems by giving new life to traditional skills ofwildlife tracking will not only benefit the animals they seek to protect but also the communities they support. The impact of their extraordinary work is evident in the thriving number of animals in the conservation areas their trained trackerswork in.

to apply practical tracking in animal monitoring, wildlife protection, predator habituation and eco-tourism.

2021 donation:

“Thank you to Animal Friends Insurance for facilitating these young people to become the best version of themselves and contributing to the protection of wild animals in Southern Africa. We are grateful for your support and dedication to animals around the world.” Alex van den Heever | General Manager of Tracker Academy

Doing some flippin’ awesome work protecting our planet

is committed to restoring whale populations to help enhance the health of our oceans and protect our planet. We’re proud to be one of the Project’s Founding Partners. Shorewatch Shorewatch, the charity’s citizen science project in Scotland, collects valuable data that can be used to equip developers and policymakers who make the big decision with up-to-date information so the best decisions can be made to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises. Sadly, due to COVID, Shorewatch lost an entire year of data. By helping fund more equipment and cover travel costs, we helped the team and their volunteers continue their vital work as safely and as quickly as possible to help make up for lost time.

Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s vision is a world where all these fantastic creatures are safe and free. The charityworks globally to end captivity, stop whaling, prevent deaths in nets, and create healthier seas through campaigns, lobbying, conservation projects, research, rescue, education and much more. Whywe supported We want to help raise awareness of the importance of whale and dolphin conservation and help protect these captivating creatures while doing our bit to fight the climate crisis. Climate Giant Project Whales help to remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as all the rainforests on land, with the IMF calculating that on average one of these giants helps remove as much carbon from our atmosphere as 30,000 trees. The Climate Giant Project

“Over the last year we have been overwhelmed by the generous support from Animal Friends Pet Insurance... Following a difficult year of lockdowns, Animal Friends funded vital equipment to our Shorewatch volunteers to enable them to carry out their critical citizen science work in public whilst keeping them and others safe. Not only are the team at Animal Friends genuinely passionate about our work in protecting whales and dolphins, they are extremely conscious about the planet and in doing so became one of WDC’s founding partners for the Climate Giant Project. Animal Friends understand that whales play an incredibly important role in helping to control carbon levels and mitigate climate change and in doing so are helping to fund our vital work in Norway to put an end to whaling. Furthermore, 2021 ended on a really positive note when we were lucky to be chosen as one of five worthy charities in the £100k Christmas Giveaway. Thanks to the support of some amazing people we won the top prize of an incredibly generous £50,000. This donation means we can make a real difference to species like some narwhal populations on the brink of extinction as well as every whale and dolphin we’re fighting to protect. Finally, we’d like to say a huge thank you for all the amazing support we’ve received from Animal Friends - WDC is only able to achieve our shared vision of protecting whales and dolphins because of partners like them.”

Sophie Loveday | Senior Partnerships Officer at WDC

£188,447 All time donation:

The Tree Council works towards making trees matter to people by planting more trees of the right kind, in the right places and providing better care for the vital canopies that give us oxygen to breathe, store carbon and give life and shelter to the world’s wildlife. Learn about howwe helped in their mission to care for trees and our planet’s future. Whywe supported Our giving will help enable the planting of up to 3,333 trees or metres of hedgerows which will allowwildlife to thrive in communities across the country. Hedgerows are the largest wildlife habitat in the UK, providing a home for more than 2,000 species including dormice, hedgehogs and barbastelle bats. Working together for the love of trees

By tackling habitat loss, the cause of the decline inmany local species, we hope therewill be a brighter future for some of our preciouswildlife. But it’s not just the animals that will benefit - planting trees and hedgerowswill lead to reduced flooding for our communities and cleaner air for us to breathe!

“We are delighted to be partnering with Animal Friends to deliver this wonderful grant programme... Planting and caring for new trees and hedgerows across the UK is vital as we work together to address the climate and nature crises and it benefits us all. These carbon-guzzling, wildlife-boosting, flood-reducing wonders are good for us, for our wildlife and for our planet and we look forward to seeing the incredible new habitats this partnership will create.” Sara Lom | Chief Executive

2021 donation:

Closer to home We love being able to help amazing charities and conservation projects around the world, but we’ll never forget where it all started over 20 years ago. Here are some of the many causes we’ve been proud to support in and around Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Cats WatchWilts 2021 donation: £9,750

HawkConservancy Trust 2021 donation: £23,500 Hawk Conservancy Trust works in the fields of conservation, education, research and rehabilitation of birds of prey at home and abroad. As part of ourWorld Animal Day celebration, we picked charities from across all seven continents and donated £10,000 to each one to thank them for their fantastic work. Our giving helped Hawk Conservancy Trust’s Poison Response Action Campaign as they work to reduce the poisoning of vultures in Africa. With charities still suffering from the various restrictions and different lockdowns, donations like this are vital to allow the charity to continue their important work protecting birds of prey. Other local charitieswe helped in 2021: Wilton Riding for the Disabled: £500 Wiltshire Wildlife Trust: £250

Founded in 2019, CatsWatchWilts has, to date, rescued and re-homed or reunited over 1000 cats and kittens in the local area. Our most recent donation of £1,000was made in memory of a cat called Thomas who had been found cold and disorientated on the side of a road by an Animal Friends colleague. While Thomas had tobe put to sleep,wewere so thankful that there are charities likeCatsWatch Wiltsmaking sure cats like Thomas are cared for evenduring their lastmoments onearth. Voice of the company

“My experience with Cats Watch has been really positive. Our cat Odin, who was a stray at the time who we were

feeding and aiming to get to the vets, suddenly stopped coming back so we were naturally really worried about him. Wemanaged to track himdown at Cats Watch, after speaking withMarnie and explaining that we were looking to adopt him she took us through the adoption process and brought himback to us.” Craig Morris Animal Friends RiskManagement Partner

Colleague Focus

Protecting pets is our purpose, animal welfare is our passion

Helping animals is in our DNA here at AFI, as passionate now as when we first opened in 1998 about creating a better life for animals around the world. Our colleagues believe that all animals, from the domestic to the exotic, deserve the right to be protected and to live happy and healthy lives and together, we make this happen. Our internal schemes, such as ‘Probation Donation’, Animal Friends Giving Back, Match Funding and our ‘Colleague of the Quarter’ recognition programme, enable our colleagues to support animal welfare and conservation charities on every step of their journeywith AFI. Probation Donation To make sure all our colleagues have the opportunity to support vulnerable animals everywhere, we make a donation on behalf of our newest colleagues who successfully complete their probation period. This scheme allows our colleagues to donate £250 to an animal welfare or conservation charity, selectable from a list of causes we support from local rehoming centres to

charities fighting to end animal suffering in captivity half the world away. In 2021, we are proud to have donated £5,750 through this scheme. “I’ve never experienced a scheme like this before and I think it’s a really great (and quick and easy) way to give colleagues the opportunity to donatemoney to a charity that is close to their heart.” “I think it is a really good benefit and also introduces our new colleagues to our culture and what is important to AFI and those around them.” Employee of the Quarter As part of our colleague reward programme, we ask our very deserving Colleague of the Quarter winners to nominate an animal welfare or conservation charity to receive a donation

fromAFI.With thanks to this year’swinners,

we have donated a total of £12,000 to some amazing causes over the course of 2021.

Animal Friends Giving Back Platform In 2021, we launched our exciting new volunteering platform, seeking to unite our colleagues looking to give their time with animal welfare or conservation charities in need of a helping hand. Since then, 168 of us have signed up to help make a difference to charities across the country.

“From the big volunteering opportunities to the small, there really is something for everyone on the platform. With more charities on board, there are a range of animals that you can pledge to support, wherever your passion lies.”

Volunteering Day Tomake surewe are doing everythingwe can to help our colleagues share their skills, time and expertisewith charities in need of some extra support, in 2021we introduced a paid volunteering day to helpmake it easier for us all tomake a difference. Watch how two colleagues used their volunteering day to help out at Birmingham Dogs Home.