One of the world’s leading equine charities is to take a new name — and build substantially on the work it already does for horse welfare.
The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) today becomes World Horse Welfare in an “unveiling” at Badminton Horse Trials.
“We wanted a name to reflect what we do,” said chief executive Roly Owers. “We no longer protect horses, we’re looking after their welfare, and we felt ‘League’ is an outdated word — and ILPH a cumbersome name.”
The charity, which has 16 horse welfare field officers nationwide, currently runs seven welfare projects overseas and campaigns in the UK on issues from obesity to changing policy on equine welfare.
He added: “If we’re going to achieve what we want to in the next five years, we need to expand our supporter base, and the new name will help us to raise our profile — it’s amazing how many people in the horse world haven’t heard about the ILPH.”
The name World Horse Welfare (WHW) is the result of a 12-month consultation with supporters and staff of the charity and the general public.
The charity was originally founded by Ada Cole in 1927 as the International League Against the Export of Horses for Butchery. Central to its rebrand and development, WHW aims to achieve Ms Cole’s ambition to abolish the long distance transport of horses for slaughter within Europe. It also promises to tackle the root causes of welfare issues in Britain.
But, to achieve its plans over the next five years, Mr Owers admits the charity needs to double its income.
He added: “We are entering a new chapter in the proud history of our charity.”
