Memorandum submitted by the Showmen's
Guild of Great Britain
THE SHOWMEN'S GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN IS THE
TRADE ASSOCIATION FOR THE TRAVELING FUNFAIR INDUSTRY
I write in connection with the above mentioned,
and I must express my concern that this Guild was not consulted
during the Defra consultation on the Animal Welfare Bill which
was carried out between the 20 January and 30 April 2002; is there
a reason why we were not consulted?
I pose this question as the proposed Clause
5 of the Bill will have a dramatic effect on the stall holder
category of my members, which runs into many thousands.
The financial disadvantages of enacting this
particular Clause of the Bill will be expensive and run into many
thousands of pounds, which may potentially force this category
of stall holder to turn his back on a form of plying his trade
that has been in existence for many years, indeed since this Guild
was founded in 1889.
The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain take very
seriously the giving of goldfish as prizes on Fairgrounds, evidence
of which may be found in the Resolution passed 46 years ago, which
is instilled in our constitution, I copy herewith the page of
our Rule book which quotes the said Resolution [not printed].
I also enclose a pamphlet headed "Care
of Goldfish", as supplied by the RSPCA, you will note this
pamphlet is referred to in the 1958 Central Council Resolution
[not printed].
Not only does the Guild insist on a duty of
care being followed by our stall holder membership, by virtue
of the mentioned Resolution, but also the prize-winners are tutored
by the pamphlet on their duty of care.
Furthermore the suitable container referred
to in the 1958 Resolution has printed on it similar wording to
that which appears in the RSPCA pamphlet, thereby advising the
prize-winner of their responsibilities vis-a-vis duty of care
and the welfare of the goldfish.
You may also be interested to note on the same
page as the wording of the 1958 Resolution, is the text of a further
Resolution referring to the care of animals by our Circus membership,
this category of membership is very small, in single figures,
but nevertheless the Guild by this Resolution regulates the duty
of care to varicose animals in Circuses.
Given the important and relative information
given in this letter, I feel it would not be unreasonable of me
to ask your Committee to consider an amendment to Clause 5 of
the proposed Bill, my suggested amendment is as follows:
CLAUSE 5 GIVING
AS PRIZES
"A person commits an offence if he gives
an animal to another as a prize." add "unless the person
giving the prize is an operating member of The Showmen's Guild
of Great Britain (the Guild) and he gives the prize in strict
compliance with the regulations laid down within the Rules of
the Guild."
July 2004
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