The Peter Roberts Tribute Fund

Peter Roberts Dairy farmer who campaigned against animal cruelty and later established Compassion in World Farming Peter Roberts, who has died aged 82, conducted a one-man campaign against cruelty in farming, which led to a re-classification of animals under European law from agricultural goods to sentient beings. After taking up dairy farming at Greatham, Hampshire, in the 1950’s, Roberts became so appalled by the suffering of animals in intensive farming systems that he started writing letters to newspapers protesting about the confinement of calves, sows and laying hens installs and cages too small to allow them any freedom of movement. He and his wife, Anna, then set up a trust, which became Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). When they began, Roberts’s vision of a world in which farm animals were treated with respect and compassion looked a hopeless cause. Farm animals were mere agricultural products without any legal protection, and CIWF was seen as just another animal welfare campaign, run on emotion and little else. But Roberts brought intellectual discipline to his cause, arguing the need for an agricultural system that would sustain the world. An early slogan, “Compassion Fights Factory Farming and Famine”, attracted such figures as Spike Milligan and the model Celia Hammond, who was photographed in a mocked-up “battery cage”. The son of a GP, Peter Holtom Roberts was born on June 7 1924 at Rugeley, Staffordshire. He went to Denstone College, and Harper Adams agricultural college. After serving with the Army in Malaya, where he worked with mules, Roberts took on a 60-acre farm to rear cows and grow kale and corn. He became disturbed by the growth of factory farming, particularly after taking learning about the trade in veal calves to France and Holland. In 1961 he gave up eating meat. Roberts eventually abandoned farming and opened a health food shop at Petersfield, known as the Bran Tub; he also set up Direct Foods, to market the meat substitute TVP. With his vast knowledge of farming (underpinned by a National Diploma in Agriculture), he had an instinct for knowing how far to go, when to push home his arguments and when to hold back. In 1984 he astonished the Canons Regular at Torrington Priory, West Sussex, by telling them that keeping 650 calves chained by the neck, in crates so narrow that they could not turn around or walk, was cruel. He then took them to court, where they lost their case. A few month later the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced a law to ban the keeping of calves in narrow veal crates. It was introduced in 1990, and was CIWF’s first major victory. When a Bill to outlaw the keeping of pregnant sows in narrow stalls or on chains during their pregnancies was introduced, one MP noted that he had received more post on the issue than about the Gulf War. In 1999 narrow stalls and chains were made illegal in Britain. Realising that European law also needed to be changed, CIWF started a pan-European petition, which led six years later to a protocol recognizing animals as sentient beings becoming part of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Peter Roberts, who died on November 15, was guided by a strong personal spiritual philosophy. He was appointed MBE in 1992. His wife and their three daughters survive him.

In 1984 Peter took a court case against a farm in Sussex, run by the Norbertine Canons near Storrington. They kept calves in the notorious veal crate, where the animals spent their entire lives never able to turn round or take more than a step or two forwards or back.These particular calves were chained by the neck as well. They were also fed a liquid only diet to keep their flesh appealingly pale - the so-called "white veal". Animal welfare law was not sufficiently advanced at that time for the judgement to go in Peter's favour, so he appealed the decision and lost again. However the case created huge national publicity and outrage, especially among many Roman Catholics, who lobbied the Pope and the Cardinal. I was only a Compassion supporter at the time, but was thrilled to see Peter on national TV News and the story on the front page of the national papers. In Sept 1985 I joined Compassion as a Campaigns Officer. We continued to lobby the Ministry of Agriculture (pre-DEFRA days) and to run a public campaign, which got huge support. In 1986 The Ministry phoned us to invite Peter to attend a conference on farm animal welfare at the National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh. My colleague Carol Mc Kenna and I had already signed up for this conference but the Ministry official was adamant and phoned back once or twice more to insist that Peter should attend. In the end he gave in and all three of us went to the conference. The then Minister Donald Thompson MP opened the conference and surprised us all by announcing that the government was going to ban veal crates and would give a 3-year phase-out, beginning in 1987. The penny dropped - that was why they had been so insistent that Peter should attend in person and hear the announcement! Of course the Minister could not pay public tribute to Peter as he had openly challenged the status quo in the courts, but it was a kind of private acknowledgement of the key role Peter had played in achieving the ban. On the way home, we stopped the car and had a glass of champagne! Even better, in the end the whole of the European Union followed Britain's lead and veal crates were banned throughout the EU from Jan 1st 2007. Peter always had this strong vision of how farming should be carried out, with total respect for each animal as a sentient being. He allied this vision with huge commitment, sound strategy and total dedication. I was honoured to work for him and learn from him - and to still be working for the great organisation he founded!