Memorandum submitted by the Society for
the Protection of Aviculture (SPA)
At a meeting of the SPA Management Committee
held on 1 August 2004 the draft Animal Welfare Bill and the proposals
from the Animal Fair Working Group were discussed.
ANIMAL FAIR
WORKING GROUP
PROPOSALS (DOCUMENT
DATED 16 JULY
2004 JAMES PAVEY)
The committee congratulate the working group
on the presentation of the document dated 16 July 2004, but were
disappointed to note that only one aviculturist had been invited
to make input, along with three herpetologists, all of whom, it
is understood, stage events/shows of a sales nature and not of
a competitive nature.
It is truly disappointing that the two national
avicultural organisations (the NCA and SPA), with some 20,000
members, who with only one or two exceptions, stage some 400-500
competitive shows without any bias to sales; and Cage & Aviary
Birds who stage the showpiece of all shows "The National
Exhibition", with all their wealth of knowledge on aviculture
were not represented at these meetings.
Concerns were expressed at the SPA Meeting regarding
what is defined as "Competitive Showing". The definition
given by the Parrot Society was that any show/exhibition giving
awards, such as their own show/sale day, where awards are given
to members for the Best presented stand and Best presented display
were classified as competitive shows. However in the world of
aviculture "Competitive Showing" is just that—competitive.
Birds are bred to a standard of excellence, staged and exhibited
in standard show cages and are judged with awards being made according
to their compliance with the standard; with sales playing a very
minor role at these events. Heaven forbid if at Crufts the awards
were made for "Best dressed dog Handler" and "Dog
with the prettiest Bow".
The emphasis within the proposal appears to
be based on sales and not on the competitive exhibition. Since
the demise of many of the smaller clubs and societies Sales Days
have become very popular, with the Parrot Society Sale Day being
at the forefront. It is one of the most popular events in the
Birdkeepers calendar, but not as implied for its competitive nature.
It is a sales day and under the current proposal does not sit
within "Tier 1" or even "Tier 2". If it were
a truly competitive exhibition it would comply with "Tier
3", however as presented can only comply with "Tier
3b" with an amendment to the proposal "Events organised
by Societies or commercial traders for commercial gain . . ."
TIER 1—PRIVATE
MEETINGS
Meetings of private members' organizations
to which the Public are not admitted. In the avian world, these
are typically the weekly meetings of the local bird club in the
village hall, at which there is showing and lecturing and a small
number of non commercial sales and exchanges. The defining characteristics
of tier 1 meetings are (a) privacy and (b) the absence of commercial
trading in live stock.
COMMENT—TIER
1—PRIVATE MEETINGS
The SPA Management Committee agreed with and supported
the recommendation.
TIER 2—EXHIBITION
SHOWS
Meetings organized by private members' clubs,
but which are open to other hobbyists and to the public, and where
there is a showing element and there are no commercial traders
selling animals. Typically in the avian world, these are annual
shows organized by private clubs with a regional catchment area.
The key difference from tier 1 is the attendance by members of
the public.
COMMENT—TIER
2 EXHIBITION SHOWS
Propose that the heading be amended to read "Competitive
Exhibition Shows", also amend first line to read "Competitive
Shows organised by . . .". They felt that part of the recommendation
should be "that birds for sale entered in the competitive
exhibition classes should be exempt from the licensing criteria".
If this change were made to the recommendation there would be
no need to license or exempt from license events staged under
Tier 2.TIER 3 (A)—HOBBYISTS
"OPEN SHOWS"
Shows at which there is a mixture of competitive
showing, table sales by hobbyists and commercial sales. Hobbyists
and members of the public attend, both on a paying basis. Usually,
these are the largescale events, such as the Parrot Society's
biannual shows, drawing nationwide attendance.
COMMENT—TIER
3 (A)—HOBBYISTS
OPEN SHOWS
The meeting considered the proposal and felt that
as presented it gave the impression that The Parrot Society conformed
to all the criteria. As stated earlier they do not feel that that
is the case. Therefore they felt that the sentence "such
as the Parrot Society's biannual shows" should be deleted
from the recommendation.
TIER 3 (B)—"COMMERCIAL"
ANIMAL FAIRS
(INCLUDING AUCTIONS)
Events organized by commercial traders for purely
commercial gain, whether on a small scale (eg, the auction in
the backroom of a pub) or a large scale.
COMMENT—TIER
3 (B)—" COMMERCIAL"
ANIMAL FAIRS
(INCLUDING AUCTIONS)
It was suggested that the reference to auctions should
be removed. Amend first line to read "Events organised by
Societies or commercial traders for commercial gain . . ."
DRAFT ANIMAL
WELFARE BILL—JULY
2004
The draft Animal Welfare Bill had been circulated
to all member organisations for comment prior to the meeting.
The Committee was disappointed to note that
under item 1 "Cruelty" Page 9/10—4 (a) (b) and
(c) no reference had been made to pinioning of wings. The meeting
believed this was an important issue that restricted the movement
of flight. It is proposed that pinioning of birds wings in
Aviculture should only be done under the supervision and recommendation
of a qualified veterinarian.
Clarification is sought on whether a garden
and outbuildings forms part of the dwelling?
It is proposed that Defra should have an
accreditation scheme for inspectors.
It was agreed that we should object to the
item "immunity from prosecution" of inspectors.
Page 75 item 11—the meeting unanimously
agreed that the item regarding "improvement notices"
should be re-introduced.
24 August 2004
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