Our history

World Horse Welfare was founded in 1927, as a campaigning organisation to prevent the export of live British horses for slaughter.

 

The charity's founder, Ada Cole, was spurred into action after witnessing a procession of British work horses being unloaded and whipped for four miles to slaughter in Belgium. From the beginning, she defined our approach - combining practicality with passion.

 

A decade after our foundation, we achieved our first major milestone - providing protection for British horses being exported for slaughter - this legislation is still in place today. Over the years, we have continued to campaign, while expanding our activities to include welfare and protection around the world.

 

Other landmark events include the opening of our first horse rehabilitation centre in Britain, in 1949, and our first international training course in Morocco in 1985.

 

For more in depth information about our history, please read our Time Line.