FROM PROTECT THE WILD WITH ROB POWNALL. HE HAS OVERLOOKED THE ´PET´ INDUSTRY

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more I need to admit something... There's an entire industry I've overlooked for years. That's about to change. ROB POWNALL OCT 21 READ IN APP Until fairly recently, the commercial pet trade wasn’t an issue I’d given much thought to. But I came across the video below and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. When we think of pets, we think of animals being loved, cared for and treated as members of the family. We walk past rabbits, hamsters, birds and reptiles in pet shops without really questioning it. We assume there are rules in place, that the animals are being looked after, and that everything is generally okay. But the more I’ve started looking into this industry, the more I’ve realised just how wrong that assumption can be. According to UK Pet Food’s 2026 research, there are an estimated 36.5 million pets in the UK, with 62% of households owning at least one. That’s an extraordinary number of animals. Yet how much do we really know about the industry supplying them? Where are these animals bred? What conditions are they kept in? How are they transported? How many die before they’re ever sold? And what happens to the countless animals who are bought, unwanted and eventually abandoned? For an industry involving so many millions of lives, the lack of public scrutiny is sickening. We’re talking about rabbits spending their lives confined in hutches, hamsters unable to carry out their most basic natural behaviours, parrots denied the opportunity to fly, and reptiles kept in enclosures that don’t come close to meeting their needs. Rescue Not Retail For some of these animals, suffering isn’t something that happens to them occasionally. It’s the only life they’ll ever know. Yet we’ve somehow normalised the idea that living, feeling creatures can be bred, displayed in shops and sold to anyone willing to pay for them. The more I think about it, the harder I find it to understand why this isn’t a much bigger issue. So we’re doing something about it. I’m incredibly excited to announce that Rescue Not Retail is officially joining the Protect the Wild family. Rescue Not Retail is an existing campaign dedicated to challenging the commercial pet trade, exposing the suffering hidden within it and ultimately ending the sale of live animals in pet shops. And we’re not planning to simply raise awareness. We’re going to investigate the businesses involved, scrutinise the laws supposedly protecting them, and explore every opportunity to hold those responsible for suffering to account. We’ll combine investigations, research, legal work and public campaigning to challenge an industry that has avoided serious scrutiny for far too long. Our ambition is to turn Rescue Not Retail into a major national campaign capable of forcing genuine change. Rescue Not Retail But what does this have to do with British wildlife? Quite a lot, actually. The exotic pet trade can directly affect wild populations, while escaped or released non-native animals can threaten native wildlife and ecosystems. But for me, there’s something even more fundamental. We campaign against the shooting industry breeding millions of pheasants to be killed for entertainment. We fight against the persecution of foxes and badgers. We challenge the idea that animals exist simply for human enjoyment or profit. A snake rack system in a UK pet shop (pic: Rescue Not Retail) So why should our compassion end when an animal is kept behind glass in a pet shop instead of living in the British countryside? Whether it’s a fox being chased by hounds, a pheasant bred to be shot or a rabbit confined to a tiny cage, these are animals whose lives should matter. And as an organisation that exists to challenge animal exploitation, I believe this is an issue we simply cannot ignore. We need you to be part of this. Rescue Not Retail is only just getting started, but I genuinely believe it has the potential to become something enormous. There is so much we want to investigate, so many questions that need answering and an entire industry that needs challenging. And as we’ve shown time and again at Protect the Wild, when enough people come together, we can force issues onto the national agenda that those responsible would much rather keep hidden. So today, I’m asking you to back Rescue Not Retail from the very beginning. Rescue Not Retail Please sign up to Rescue Not Retail and receive our campaign emails, investigations and opportunities to take action. Giving us your support and helping us build this movement would mean an enormous amount. Thank you :) SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2026 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe Start your Substack