Animal Welfare: The Great Debate

Animal welfare debates are an exciting way for students to discover and explore our responsibilities towards animals and their habitats.

Our debate materials and programmes are designed to promote a kinder future for all animals, by encouraging young people to learn about animal welfare and the work of the RSPCA.

They also aim to teach children about important government and citizenship topics, alongside developing key skills in research and public speaking.

How to get involved

Watch the 2021 Debate Mate Grand Finals Highlights

This year, we partnered with Debate Mate to offer primary and secondary schools a fun and rewarding experience debating RSPCA topics for the Grand Final of the Debate Mate Cup 2021.

You can follow Debate Mate on social media to learn more.

Host a debate through your school or debate club

Please see our debating animal welfare lesson plan for information and guidance about how to host your own animal welfare debate.

In addition to the topics recommended in the lesson plan, we have additional briefing sheets for debate topics in England and Wales:

We want to hear from you

We would love to hear from you about your experience debating these topics.

To let us know you¿ve hosted an animal welfare debate, please email education@rspca.org.uk or post on social media with the hashtag #rspcaeducation.