Animal welfare

The Co-operative Bank's customers lead the way on animal welfare. In 1992, our customers voted overwhelmingly that we should refuse to invest in businesses involved in blood sports - 13 years before the Government's fox hunting ban. Our customers also said no to animal testing of cosmetics or household products. The EU will soon follow suit, banning animal testing for cosmetic purposes from 2013.

Great apes are highly intelligent, emotional creatures and their use in experimentation is banned in the UK. However, in some countries, the use of great apes in experimentation is still permitted. The Co-operative Bank will not finance any organisation involved in the exploitation of great apes through experimentation or general commercial use.

Furthermore, to reflect another area of our customers' concerns, we will not invest in businesses involved in intensive farming, such as caged egg production. Instead we aim to support free-range farming methods that offer better conditions for animals.

 Our policy on animal welfare

We will not finance any organisation involved in:

• animal testing of cosmetic or household products or their ingredients;
• the exploitation of great apes, eg in experimentation or general commercial use;
• intensive farming methods, eg caged egg production;
• blood sports, which involve the use of animals or birds to catch, fight or kill each other;
• the fur trade.

Furthermore, we will seek to support:

• businesses involved in the development of alternatives to animal experimentation;
• farming methods that promote animal welfare (eg free range farming).