When CSR was first adopted approximately a decade ago, it tended to focus on activities that promoted the well-being of people and the environment. However, in recent years CSR has increasingly been used as a platform to justify business practices that promote animal protection and to prevent engagement in activities that harm animals. This is largely a result of:

• increased community recognition that animals are sentient beings who have intrinsic value [i];
• increased emphasis on animal protection by the government and legal community [ii];
• increased availability of research which suggests that fostering compassion and respect for animals promotes public morality and that interpersonal violence and violence against animals are often connected [iii]; and
• increased awareness about the extent to which animals are suffering in many industrial establishments, including those that test on animals and those who confine them in intensive ‘factory’ farms. [iv]

Statistics suggest that the animal protection movement is growing in size and legitimacy, both in Australia and around the world .[v] The movement now is comparable to the environmental movement 20 years ago. Back then, environmental matters were considered ‘fringe issues’. Today almost 3 million Australians donate time or money to help protect the environment and environmental law has become a crucial aspect of corporate governance .[vi] The animal protection movement is following suit and is fast becoming a concern of many mainstream Australians. This is demonstrated by increasing demand for animal-friendly products and growing concern about the institutionalised suffering of animals, both in Australia and around the world.

Animals represent a disadvantaged and marginalised group who are ‘utilised’ by humans in all aspects of society ranging from food production to clothing to entertainment. Consequently they stand to benefit tremendously from good corporate behaviour. However they have no voice at the Boardroom table and thus have only the social responsibility values of ‘The Good Company’ [vii] to rely on.

Please follow this link to find out more about Voiceless's presentation on 'Compassion in the Boardroom'.

1. Compassion in World Farming Trust, Stop-Look-Listen: Recognising the sentience of farm animals, 2003  [4 November 2005] http://www.ciwf.org.uk
2. For example, see: Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry, Australian Animal Welfare Strategy, September 2005; Animal Law is now being taught at more than 60 law schools in the US, including NYU, Columbia and Harvard Law Schools. For details of the emergence of Animal Law as a Legal Discipline see: Kate Gibbs ‘ Speak and squeak and squawk for the Animals’, Lawyers Weekly, 4 November 2005
3. Randall Lockwood, ‘Animal Cruelty and Violence Against Humans: Making the Connection,’ Animal Law, vol. 5, 1999, p 81; Frank Ascione, ‘Children and Animals: Kindness and Cruelty: Exploring the reunion of animal and human welfare in the 21st Century’, Seminar Paper published by Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research [7 November 2005] http://www.noviolence.com.au/ascione1.html
4. For example, increasing public concern over individual housing of sows in sow stalls is one of the biggest impetuses for change in the Australian pork industry. There has also been noted public concern about farrowing crates. See; J.L. Barnett, P.H Hemsworth and G.M. Cronin et al, A review of the welfare issues for sows and piglets in relation to housing, Australian Journal for Agricultural Research, 2001, 52, CSIRO Publishing, 1-28.
5. International animal groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and the International Fund for Animal Welfare boast more than 8 million and 1.4 million members respectively. See: Debra Blum, Animal-Rights Lobbyist Is Selected to Be Top Dog at Humane Society, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, June 24, 2004 [12 July 2005] http://philanthropy.com; Commonwealth of Australia, A universal metaphor: Australia's opposition to commercial whaling May 1997 Report of the National Task Force on Whaling http://www.deh.gov.au; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has more than 850,000 members. See: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, [12 July 2005] http://www.peta.org/about/
6. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Austats, ‘Environmental Issues: People's Views and Practices’, 24 November 2004, [11 July 2005] http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats
7. Clive Crook, ‘The Good Company: A survey of corporate social responsibility’, The Economist, 20 January 2005

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