Today is Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day. Now in its sixth year, having started after 13,000 sheep died after suffering a prolonged journey from Romania which finally ended in Somalia on 14 June 2015, it comes a week after the UK government introduced the Kept Animals Bill to Parliament, the second piece of animal welfare legislation introduced this year.

Footage obtained by investigators working for Surge of a pig farm near Scarborough, UK, has revealed shocking levels of suffering, injuries and flagrant disregard for animal welfare by workers, prompting several leading UK supermarkets and Red Tractor to drop the farm.

Many people aren’t aware of what snares are, or may immediately think of a type of drum. Simply put, snares are thin wire nooses designed to catch animals by tightening around their neck or leg. The animal is held by the snare until the person who set it returns to kill them, or they die of their injuries or are killed by a predator. They might escape, but if injured they may still die later of those injuries.

The Queen’s Speech unveiled a proposal to limit the sale of foie gras after years of public outrage against the product, but why are we still turning away from the suffering of animals used for food on our own doorstep?

A new initiative aimed at improving the welfare of laying hens gives insights into the strange way that the egg industry conceives of hen welfare. The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT) and British Free Range Egg Producers Association (BFREPA) are collaborating to encourage people to buy a range of egg sizes instead of only large or very large ones, which have become more popular than small and medium-sized eggs. Laying large eggs can be painful and dangerous to the hens.

Non-human animals are to be formally recognised as sentient beings by law, the UK Government has announced, as part of a range of new animal welfare measures including the ending of most forms of live animal export and a ban on the import of hunting trophies.

The discovery of 160 puppies and kittens being transported illegally through China’s postal service last week has thrown the country’s cruel ‘pet blind box’ craze into the spotlight.

What is animal labour? Do all animals work or only some? If we recognise them as workers, should they enjoy labour rights? These were some of the questions discussed at an online roundtable last weekend on May 1, the traditional day of remembrance for labour-related struggles.

The tragic story of Bowser the family dog, who was euthanised by YouTuber Nikki Phillippi and her husband Dan out of apparent fear for their child’s safety, has sparked a massive outcry with much of social media accusing the family of being murderers. What does this tell us about our attitudes to non-human animals? An awful lot, it seems.

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill has received the Royal Assent paving the way for tougher prison sentences of up to five years for those convicted of unnecessary animal cruelty. Seen by many as complementary to Finn’s Law, which protects service animals such as police dogs, such laws are great news for some animals but not for most others reminding us once again that society still has a long way to go to overcome its speciesism.

A new investigation by Animal Equality UK has prompted a criminal investigation after revealing a litany of horrors including piglets being killed with a hammer or slammed on concrete floors and mother pigs with severe uterine prolapses being forced to walk before being shot.

A new investigation by Animal Justice Project has been released showing abuse of day-old dairy calves at the hands of a leading UK ‘calf trader’ with links to major supermarkets, but also their fate at a slaughterhouse in Chester. With bans in place to prevent calf shootings on farms, has this blown the lid off the dairy industry’s new ‘dirty secret’?