Memorandum submitted by Barbara Holgate
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on
this draft Bill. Overall, I am pleased to see the new provisions
in the Bill, and my comments are minor suggestions for clarity.
Section 1, entitled "Cruelty".
It would be helpful to define "cruelty",
or to re-title this section "suffering".
It would be helpful to put the definitions of
animal, protected animal, inspector etc near the start of the
Bill.
Section 1(4). It would be helpful to
define "Mutilation".
"Keeper" is defined in more than one
place, and any differences in the definition seem subtle. It would
be helpful if one definition could be agreed, that applies in
all sections of the Bill.
Section 3(3), about abandoned animals,
seems clumsy, and could perhaps benefit from re-drafting.
Section 6(1) allows for "any"
regulations to be made, so is it necessary to spell out a list
in section 6(2)?
The use of the word "slaughter" in
some sections may not be appropriate—"humanely kill"
may be better as it is more applicable to all species. For example,
section 16(2)(f) proposes "slaughter" as one of the
ways an animal may be dealt with if it is suffering. Given the
usual definition of the word, slaughter would not be appropriate
for pet species, for example.
11 August 2004
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