From Puppy Farms to Factory Farms: The Fight for All Animals

Hi there,

My name is Dr Marc Abraham OBE – although most people just call me ‘Marc the Vet’. I am a practicing veterinary surgeon, as well as an author, broadcaster, and passionate animal welfare campaigner. 

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have volunteered on many rescue projects all around the world – including vaccinating dogs against rabies in Mumbai, sterilising dogs in the Amazon jungle, and treating moon bears in Chengdu, China. 

But one of the things I seem to be best known for is leading the campaign to pass ‘Lucy’s Law’, the ban on commercial third party puppy sellers e.g. pet shops, a law that helps protect thousands of animals every year. But I want to start by telling you about Lucy, the little dog who we named the law after.

This is Lucy. 

She wasn’t always a pampered, happy dog. When rescuers found her, she was barely alive. Her spine was so deformed from years in a cramped cage that her back paws nearly touched her front. Her skin was burned by the urine-soaked straw she was forced to sleep on. She had spent over five years in a filthy barn, never seeing daylight, never knowing love.

Lucy had been used as a breeding machine on a cruel, but totally legal, puppy farm. She was one of the thousands of dogs used to produce litter after litter of puppies, her body pushed to its limit.

I have treated many dogs and puppies like Lucy over the years. Horrified by some of the cases that came through my surgery door, I led a 10-year campaign to change the law around puppy breeding and selling. 

In 2020, Lucy’s Law was finally passed. Now, anyone wanting a puppy or kitten in England, Scotland, or Wales must buy directly from the breeder or adopt from a rescue shelter. All dog and cat breeders must show puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth, making all breeders accountable for the first time.  

With campaigning work ongoing, as some puppy farms do still exist, Lucy’s Law marked a brand new era and sea change in the way the law approaches puppy farming, providing accountability, a legislative framework to investigate and potentially prosecute unscrupulous breeders and sellers, as well as raising much needed awareness around the responsible way to choose a dog or cat.  

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the passing of this milestone in animal welfare legislation, I feel proud to have played a small part in the campaign… because, NO ANIMAL should be reduced to a mere breeding machine. 

Sadly, though, many of the exact same horrors I saw from puppy farms remain widespread across other forms of factory farming. 

Just like Lucy, many cows farmed for dairy are forced to have calf after calf until their broken bodies can’t take any more. 

Just like Lucy, chickens up and down the country are often covered in burns caused from languishing in their own waste. 

Just like Lucy, pigs all over the UK spend years in cramped cages, usually never seeing the sun or sky.

Animal Equality works relentlessly to expose the horrors of intensive animal farming, and the footage they release is every bit as harrowing as the miserable conditions on puppy farms that I helped campaigned against.

All animals, irrespective of their species, are living, feeling beings who deserve to be respected, protected, and to have a chance at a happy, healthy life. 

All animals, irrespective of their species, deserve the love and affection that Lucy received when she was eventually freed from her cruel puppy farm.

People like you helped me change the law for dogs… you can also help me change the law for other farmed animals too, bringing us one step closer to a kinder, more plant-based world.

RIGHT NOW we are at a huge turning point: 

We have an opportunity to drastically change the legal landscape that applies to ALL forms of animal farming. 

While I try to close down all cruel, unscrupulous puppy breeders and sellers, and Animal Equality’s team fight to shut down all animal farms, I’m proud of the change we’re helping to create along the way. For some time, Animal Equality has been at the forefront in calling for a government-run licensing system for farms: a system that would bring real scrutiny and accountability to bear on anyone looking to keep farm animals. A licensing system could shine a light on cruel farming practices and make sure that some of the worst abusers get punished accordingly.

In an historic step towards progress, the Sentience Committee – a government advisory board – has just endorsed Animal Equality’s recommendation! 

But that’s just the beginning. Those recommendations now need Ministers to back them up, politicians to sound the alarm in Parliament, and the public to demand action. Words alone won’t help guys, but you and I can!

It is so important that this opportunity is now seized… and as someone who has already successfully campaigned to change the law, I can tell you that this is unlikely to happen overnight. 

Month after month after month, Animal Equality will need to keep this issue in the news, keep the pressure on politicians, meet the right people, secure celebrity backing, and doggedly pursue this game-changing law change.

These kinds of laws don’t pass by themselves… behind every successful legislative campaign are caring and compassionate people – people like you. 

Animal Equality needs loyal supporters, people they can count on month after month in the long march to progress. These determined supporters make sustained campaigning and lasting change happen.

Recognising this will be a long campaign, the success of which will depend on monthly donors, one of Animal Equality’s major donors has agreed to give Animal Equality a rare boost: 

They have pledged to donate a staggering £50,000, but only if 150 monthly supporters sign up before the end of March. 

You don’t need to be a vet to save animals’ lives. 

For just £5 a month, you can help give animals a fighting chance at a better life, just like little Lucy in the picture.

Why not also give pigs, chickens, cows, and other farmed animals a real shot at meaningful legal protections while they’re trapped in these awful places?

Will you be one of the 150 who makes this happen?

Warm regards,

Dr Marc Abraham OBE, BVM&S MRCVS

Vet and proud supporter of Animal Equality UK

P.S. You don’t need to be a vet to save animals’ lives. For just £5 a month, you can help give animals a fighting chance at a better life – just like little Lucy in the picture. Join Animal Equality in unlocking £50,000 by becoming a monthly donor today.

P.P.S. If you pledge a £20 monthly gift, Animal Equality will send you a special welcome pack as a token of their appreciation. But hurry – this opportunity is only available until 31st March! Don’t miss out: BECOME A MONTHLY SUPPORTER NOW.