Working for Animal Welfare: An Assessor's Story

With applications to study farming-related courses at UK universities on the rise and more young people turning to a future of working in agriculture, it’s clear that the next generation wants careers that make a difference.

We take a look at why joining the RSPCA Assured assessor team could be the career Gen Zers and Alphas are looking for - it’s a role that makes a difference to the lives of millions of farmed animals and helps create a more compassionate food system.

Our highly trained assessors travel the country in all weathers, ensuring member farms meet the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards. Isabella, who specialises in pigs and laying hens, is one of them. For her, animal welfare was always the only career choice – even alongside her love of weight lifting, cooking and music. Here, she shares what drew her to the role and why making a positive difference for farmed animals matters every single day…

Six reasons I work in animal welfare

Born in the city, made for the countryside

“Driven to do something” - that’s exactly what it was like for me from a very early age with farming. I grew up in the city, and my parents often took me and my sister to visit a local city farm. But that wasn’t enough for me, I wanted to work on a farm, get to know the animals and get stuck in.

Love at first lambing (season)

Tired of me talking about animals all the time, my mum took me at my word and organised for me to work on a farm at lambing time at 13, and I never looked back. I really enjoyed helping the sheep give birth, cleaning up the lambs and encouraging them to feed. It seemed such a natural environment for me. Since then, every job I have ever wanted to do has involved being outside and being with animals.

There’s no doubt I am at my happiest when I have my wellies on, walking through mud to see healthy and curious farm animals living good lives.

Teenage dreams … at 4 am in the milking parlour

You could say I wasn’t a typical teenager. Yes, I was up at 4 am, but not out clubbing; I was helping at a dairy farm, milking the cows. I didn’t mind getting up to work, I always preferred being around animals to doing anything else. No other career was an option for me. So, I applied to study at Harper Adams University, which specialises in agriculture and the rural sector.

Animals deserve our respect

I learnt very quickly that there are challenges and that not everything goes to plan in farming. But no matter what, animals need to be treated with care and respect. I am very practical by nature, and I want to know the reality of any situation. I have done work-experience in a slaughterhouse, so I know what happens at every stage of a farm animal’s life cycle. We need to understand that animals are living beings; they deserve compassion and respect, and we have a responsibility to take care of their needs.

Going too far for profit

While I am a realist, I can also see where things can go too far with highly intensive farming and how the drive for profits can negatively affect animal welfare. This is especially obvious with lower-welfare meat chickens (broilers) that are being bred to ‘grow’ faster and faster to reach slaughter weight, which can now be as little as five weeks. They suffer health problems and can barely stand. I’m proud to say fast-growing chicken breeds are not permitted by the RSPCA welfare standards.

Making a difference with RSPCA Assured

My whole life has led me to the job I have now! I love animals, and I want to work to make their lives better. This is what the RSPCA's higher welfare standards aim to achieve by showing our member farms practical and achievable ways to improve welfare, backed up by science. There are hundreds of standards that cover everything from providing extra space and straw for pigs to banning cages and fast-growing breeds of chicken from the scheme.

I enjoy meeting producers who have committed to becoming members of the RSPCA Assured scheme. You can see the positive difference higher welfare makes to the animals - and also to the people who care for them.

01 Apr 2025