Resources: Log on to ... Animal welfare

While there are plenty of adults with strong views on animal rights and welfare, it's one of those issues that really captures the hearts and minds of young people. But navigating the plethora of animal welfare websites can be dangerous territory for young eyes. Largely thanks to the more militant sections of the animal welfare community, there are some fairly unsavoury images and some rather extremist views online.

Worry not, however, as there is some equally sound advice available. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website www.defra.gov.uk includes guidance to the Animal Welfare Act and legal regulation concerning the protection of domestic animals, the welfare of animals in transport and at markets, and links to independent bodies as such as the Farm Animal Welfare Council.

For young people more interested in the campaigning side of things, there's www.animalaid.org.uk, a charity formed in 1977 to "campaign peacefully against all forms of animal abuse and promote a cruelty-free lifestyle". In practice, this means the promotion of veganism and campaigning against animal testing, livestock markets, game shoots, pet sales at garden centres and much more.

The site has a youth section where you can download the quarterly newsletter Youth Rage and there's plenty of literature and films about animal experiments, farming and the pet industry, as well as going vegetarian or vegan and leading a cruelty-free lifestyle.

The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection has been campaigning against animal experimentation for more than 100 years. Resources at www.buav.org include the Health with Humanity leaflet, which details health charities that do not use animal experiments, and there are also reports on issues such as the use of animal testing to research the effects of recreational drugs.

Young people may find BUAV's spin-off site, www.gocrueltyfree.org more of direct interest, with its focus on lifestyle and consumer choices. Available here is The Little Book of Cruelty Free, which lists cosmetic and household product companies that don't test on animals. The website suggests looking for the "leaping bunny" logo to help identify such products. Retailers can sign up to a cruelty-free standard here too.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is the oldest and biggest animal charity in the UK. Founded in 1822, it is funded mainly by legacies and voluntary donations. It is more conservative than some of the new breed of animal rights organisations and its campaigns call for "improved welfare" for farm animals, while it urges members to have their say in "reducing the use and suffering of animals used in research".

The website www.rspca.org.uk has a young people's section Under 8teenz, which is shortly to be rebranded as The Den following consultations with young people. This caters for under-12s (Animal Action Club) and 12- to 17-year-olds (Campaign Link for Animal Welfare, or Claw). For the younger age range, there are interactive education resources and an animation about welfare for laying hens. Claw members are encouraged to get involved in gentle campaigning, such as signing a petition requiring the microchipping of dogs, become a fan on Facebook and take part in activities such as a wildlife photography competition.

At the risk of upsetting the people at Youth Rage, it's necessary to point that young people do have a range of views about vivisection. In 2006, 16-year-old Laurie Pycroft founded the organisation Pro-Test to defend the use of animals in scientific and medical research and to combat what it calls the "junk science" and "irrational arguments " of anti-vivisectionists.

"We stand for science, reasoned debate and, above all, the promotion of the welfare of mankind," claims the website www.pro-test.org.uk. The site contains links to publications highlighting the contribution of animal research to medical advances, as well as blogs from its members and details of campaign activity, particularly around the contentious issue of Oxford University's new biomedical research facility.

WEB FILE

www.defra.gov.uk - The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs site features guidance and legislation

www.animalaid.org.uk - The website has resources on veganism, along with campaign ideas

www.buav.org - This charity has been campaigning against vivisection for more than 100 years

www.gocrueltyfree.org - This spin-off site offers guidance for consumers to make cruelty-free purchases

www.rspca.org.uk - The oldest UK animal charity has special areas for young people on its site

www.pro-test.org.uk - A website that defends the use of animals in medical research.