Parliamentary Drop-In Session to End Lamb Mutilations

We discussed an end to these cruel practices, and ways of moving towards more sustainable types of farming, allowing us to get these important topics into parliament. As a key part of Love Lambs Week, campaigning work like this is only made possible by your support.

Adrian Ramsay MP, who is leading the topic in parliament, was joined by politicians including John McDonnell MP, Rachael Maskell MP, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb, Neil Duncan-Jordan MP and Kerry McCarthy MP.

This drop-in session was an important opportunity to launch the campaign in parliament and to grow parliamentary support for ending routine tail-docking and castration. The campaign also aims to support a transition away from farming systems that rely on routine mutilations. These practices are out of date, and are now considered largely medically unnecessary. Building a base of Members of Parliament who support a legal end to these practices is essential if we are to achieve a more compassionate future for farmed animals like sheep, along with our wider work to encourage everyone to leave animals off their plates.

 Adrian Ramsay, Green Party MP for Waveney Valley, said:

“The UK is a nation of animal lovers. We have a proud reputation for high animal welfare standards, but we cannot afford to stand still when the evidence tells us animals can be spared unnecessary suffering. The Animal Welfare Committee has made clear that routine tail docking and castration in lambs should no longer be the default approach. Ministers now have a real opportunity to deliver meaningful reform.

By implementing these recommendations, the Government can improve welfare for lambs while supporting a more sustainable future for the sheep sector. I urge the DEFRA Minister to seize this opportunity, end these largely unnecessary routine procedures, and spare countless lambs from avoidable suffering.”

This even was only made possible through our supporters writing to their MPs to ask them to attend this event and support the campaign. You can write to your MP to ask them to support future work on this important topic here.

Love Lambs Week 2026

Love Lambs Week is the time of the year where we show that lambs are living creatures, not food. While the meat industry runs the similarly named ‘Love Lamb Week’, we want to focus on the lives of the animals themselves. To achieve this, we’re bring attention to the harmful practices that millions of lambs currently suffer from. In aid of this, the Vegetarian Society’s work to end lamb mutilations has been receiving the support of a number of celebrities, politicians and campaigning organisations.

As recently reported in the Daily Express, Mary McCartney has joined a group of over 30 cross-party MPs, peers and organisations in writing to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs calling for an urgent end to the routine tail docking and castration of lambs, arguing that the practices cause significant and avoidable suffering and are no longer justified by current scientific evidence. 

 You can add your support to this campaign by signing the petition.

We have already built a great level of support among MPs – however writing to your MP and asking them to support the campaign helps us enormously. You can write to your MP here.

You can also sign up for your FREE Love Lambs Week 2026 Booklet.

What You Get When You Sign Up: 

Celebrity recipes: Delicious lamb-free dishes from Anna Jones, Mary McCartney, Ella Mills, Matt Pritchard, and Katy Beskow. 

Expert cooking tips: Mouth-watering ideas and top tips from COOK! with the Vegetarian Society. 

Prize Draw: We have a copy of Mary McCartney’s cookbook, ‘Feeding Creativity’ to giveaway. Sign up for our free digital booklet and you will be automatically entered into the prize draw!