Animal Aid, founded in 1977, is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 animal rights

Animal rights

Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 organisation. The group campaigns peacefully against all forms of animal abuse and promotes a cruelty-free

Cruelty-free

Cruelty-free is a social movement that seeks to avoid all products of cruelty. The term cruelty-free was first used in this way by Lady Dowding who persuaded manufacturers of fake furs to use the label Beauty Without Cruelty and went on to found the charity Beauty Without Cruelty in 1959...

 lifestyle. It also investigates and exposes animal cruelty.

Animal Aid produces campaign reports, leaflets and factfiles, as well as educational and undercover videos. They also offer a quarterly magazine and a sales catalogue with cruelty-free products.

Aims and objectives

Animal Aid was founded in January 1977 to work, by all peaceful means, for an end to animal cruelty. The organization is a not-for-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 limited company

Limited company

A limited company is a company in which the liability of the members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. And the former of these, a limited company limited by shares, may be...

 run by a volunteer council of management. It has not applied to be a charity, so that it is able to use its funds for sometimes controversial campaigns. Its aims are:

• To increase public awareness of the abuse of animals in our society, particularly in vivisection
  Vivisection
  Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
  
   laboratories and factory farms and to educate public opinion to demand, by all lawful means, the abolition of all experiments on animals, factory farming
  Factory farming
  Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...
  
   and all other forms of animal abuse.
• To examine existing legislation on matters associated with the above objectives or related aspects and to promote social, legal and administrative reforms in furtherance of the above objectives.
• To prevent exploitation of animals.
• To educate the public and particularly young people to a sense of moral responsibility towards animals.
• To promote, generally, a lifestyle which does not involve the abuse of animals.
• To collect, and diffuse among members and the public generally, information on all matters affecting the above objectives and with a view there to print, issue and circulate papers, periodicals, books, circulars and other literary matter and produce film and audio-visual material, and to promote, sponsor, procure or assist in any way, courses or lectures or other instructions in furtherance of such objectives. http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/ABOUT/aims/ALL///

Celebrity supporters

Animal Aid has a wide range of celebrity supporters, including Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke

Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...

, Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney

Stella Nina McCartney is an English fashion designer. She is the daughter of former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney and the late photographer and animal rights activist, Linda McCartney.-Early life:...

, Richard Wilson, Wendy Turner Webster

Wendy Turner Webster

Wendy Turner-Webster is an English journalist, television presenter and animal rights campaigner.-Biography:...

, Massive Attack

Massive Attack

Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...

, Alexei Sayle

Alexei Sayle

Alexei David Sayle is a British stand-up comedian, actor and author. He was a central part of the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s. He was voted the 18th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-ups in 2007...

, Tony Benn

Tony Benn

Anthony Neil Wedgwood "Tony" Benn, PC is a British Labour Party politician and a former MP and Cabinet Minister.His successful campaign to renounce his hereditary peerage was instrumental in the creation of the Peerage Act 1963...

, Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Zephaniah

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is an English writer and dub poet. He is a well-known figure in contemporary English literature, and was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008....

, Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw

Martin Shaw is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals, The Chief, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.-Theatrical background:...

, Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde

Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...

, Peter Tatchell

Peter Tatchell

Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...

 and Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey

Andrew Linzey

Andrew Linzey is an Anglican priest, theologian, author, and prominent figure in the Christian vegetarian movement. He is a member of the Faculty of Theology in the University of Oxford and held the world’s first academic post in Ethics, Theology and Animal Welfare — the Bede Jarret Senior Research...

.

Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek

Charlotte Uhlenbroek

Charlotte Jane Uhlenbroek is a British zoologist and BBC television presenter.-Early life:Her Dutch father was an agricultural specialist with the United Nations who took his English wife and their family round the world with him. Uhlenbroek was born in London, but her parents moved to Ghana when...

, the primatologist, has supported the Animal Aid campaign against primate experiments , stating: "I have yet to hear a sufficiently compelling scientific argument that justifies the suffering inflicted on primates in medical research."

Campaigns

Animal Aid campaigns against animal experiments on both moral and scientific grounds, and promotes the non-animal medical research. It obtains and publicises undercover footage showing how animals are treated in farms and on slaughterhouses. Animal Aid promotes an animal-free diet. They argue that a vegan diet is more humane, healthy, environmentally friendly and a better way to use the world's precious resources. Its other main campaigns are against culling, horse racing, pheasant farming and shooting.
Animal Aid campaign index

Animal Aid launched the purple poppy campaign in 2007 to commemorate the animal victims of war. Millions of animals have lost their lives in human wars, but are rarely mentioned in remembrance ceremonies. The purple poppy aims to rectify this. It can be worn on its own or alongside the red poppy. Tens of thousands people have bought the poppy, and it has been worn by celebrities including Morrissey on stage in November 2009.
Purple Poppy Campaign page

Christmas Fayre

Animal Aid's Christmas Fayre is held every year in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to promote a cruelty-free

Cruelty-free

Cruelty-free is a social movement that seeks to avoid all products of cruelty. The term cruelty-free was first used in this way by Lady Dowding who persuaded manufacturers of fake furs to use the label Beauty Without Cruelty and went on to found the charity Beauty Without Cruelty in 1959...

 lifestyle.

There are goods for sale including fair trade

Fair trade

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...

 crafts and jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

, cruelty-free cosmetics

Cosmetics

Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...

, recycled goods, environmentally friendly

Environmentally friendly

Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....

 clothing, non-leather boots and shoes and seasonal cards and gifts. The 2009 fayre hosted more than 80 stands selling cruelty-free gifts. There is a lecture programme throughout the day, plus a celebrity auction, and vegan food. It is promoted as a family event.

There is also an annual South West Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre held in Exeter, England.