The Party for Animal Welfare is a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with a focus on

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

. It has no representation at local or national level.

Policies and activities

They advocate the banning of

blood sports A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities charact ...

, puppy farms,

factory farming Intensive animal farming or industrial livestock production, also known by its opponents as factory farming and macro-farms, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production, while ...

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

and other animal cruelties. They have petitioned for the adding of animal welfare to the Irish primary school curriculum. The Party for Animal Welfare held a protest in

Dingle, County Kerry Dingle (Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about southwest of Tralee and northwest of Killa ...

during February 2020 to oppose a proposed seal

cull In biology, culling is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics. In animal breeding, it is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on a specific tr ...

, which local fishermen had been calling for to increase fish stocks. In conjunction with Compassion in World Farming Ireland, the party held protests against the export of live animals outside

Leinster House Leinster House ( ga, Teach Laighean) is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, ...

and

Rosslare Europort Rosslare Europort ( ga, Europort Ros Láir) is a modern seaport located at Rosslare Harbour in County Wexford, Ireland, near the southeasternmost point of the island of Ireland. The port is the premier Irish port serving the European Contine ...

in 2019 and 2020.

Elections

In the

2020 Irish general election The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Ta ...

, before the party had registered, PAW's deputy leader Ted Cronin ran as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

on an animal welfare platform. He received 391 (0.5%) first preference votes in the Kerry constituency, being eliminated in the third count, coming second last. The party also fielded five candidates in the 2024 local elections and one in the 2024 Limerick mayoral election; None were elected.

Affiliation

PAW is a member of the Animal Politics Foundation. Although not an official member, the

Animal Politics EU Animal Politics EU, formerly Euro Animal 7, is a group of animal rights parties in European Union countries. Goals They call for: * Raise the moral and legal status of animals * Improve the welfare of animals kept for farming purposes and ens ...

group has recognised the Party for Animal Welfare and members of the group have expressed support for them.

References

External links

Party for Animal Welfare
{{political parties in the Republic of Ireland Animal advocacy parties Animal welfare organisations based in the Republic of Ireland Political parties in the Republic of Ireland