Simon was a guest speaker at a major conference in London this week attended by leading politicians and representatives of all the UK ’s leading animal welfare and conservation organisations.

Wildlife Aid founder urges Tory leader to ensure that schools teach respect for nature

The keynote speech at the conference was given by Conservative Party leader David Cameron, who pledged to make care for animals a high priority for a future Conservative government. Afterwards Simon talked to David Cameron about some of the issues that concern Wildlife Aid and which the charity would like a future Conservative government to try to tackle.

In their speeches, both Simon Cowell and David Cameron highlighted the vital importance of education, with Simon urging the Conservatives to ensure that the younger generation are taught respect for nature, and that animal welfare and conservation are part of the national curriculum. “We need to change attitudes,” Simon told the conference. “And, to do that, we have to create a far greater awareness, which, in turn, I hope will give people the desire to be educated. And we have to educate through generations to make this permanent change.”

Changing attitudes is crucial

Describing incidents that Wildlife Aid has dealt with, Simon explained why this change in attitudes is crucial: “In the UK , over the years, we’ve seen some real horrors. We have badger bating. I’ve been out numerous times, believe it or not, to rescue hedgehogs that have been crucified to a fence with six inch nails because the children thought it was fun. I’ve been out to deer that have been savaged by dogs and are absolutely un-repairable so they’ve had to be put to sleep.

"And, then, of course, I’ve seen, when I’ve travelled abroad, the incredible issues of ‘canned lion hunting’, ‘breaking the spirit’ of elephants – which is nothing but an inhumane torture, and other situations such as manatees being sliced with propellers. So, there’s the problem. Animal welfare is a huge and complex issue. We have cruelty and man’s deliberate mistreatment, and then we have man’s unintentional impact on the wildlife and the animals around us.”

In his speech, Simon called for greater cooperation between animal welfare and environmental organisations. “At the end of the day we can’t all work in isolation. Each of us here today, we know, is trying to make a huge difference. At Wildlife Aid, we patch ’em up, send ’em out and get ’em back to the wild. And we do that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. So we do our bit, but that doesn’t fix the root causes. There are thousands of us in animal welfare organisations trying to make that difference. I think, without doubt, there’s not one person here who doesn’t have an immense passion for what we do. Let’s face it, we don’t do it for the money, because I’m still trying to get a salary, and I shall never get one, I don’t think.. But we need co-ordination, and, more importantly, we need communication, which I’m sure all of us find hard to make time for. Without this approach, we just won’t create any sustainable change.”

Environmental responsibility

Following Simon’s speech, he and David Cameron talked together about the importance of wildlife welfare and conservation, and the need for politicians to give leadership to the nation by encouraging environmental responsibility and greater respect for nature. They also talked about the TV documentary series Wildlife SOS, which Simon presents.

The conference on animal welfare was organised by Shadow Home Affairs Minister Andrew Rosindell MP. As well as David Cameron and Simon Cowell, speakers included Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling (MP for Epsom & Ewell) – who recently visited Wildlife Aid in Leatherhead – and Shadow Environment Ministers Nick Herbert MP and Richard Benyon MP, together with representatives of the London Zoological Society, the RSPCA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.