Memorandum submitted by Jane Fry
1. SUBMISSION
OF WRITTEN
EVIDENCE
1.1 These comments are in response to an
invitation[2]of
the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
to submit written evidence on the Government's draft Animal Welfare
Bill[3].
1.2 This submission is written in a private
capacity. I am, however, a Trustee of a wild animal rescue centre,
and am also involved on a personal basis in the rescue and re-homing
of domestic (companion) rabbits.
2. PET FAIRS
2.1 I would like to register my objection
to the holding of Pet Fairs.
2.2 I have been to several parrot and ornamental
waterfowl shows and sales, and speak from my own personal experiences.
2.3 Although exhibitors and sales people
are asked to provide water and food for their birds, this was
often not the case. When I spoke to show officials about ducks
not being provided with water, they commented that they make it
dirty in seconds and knock it over. Food, if any, was thrown on
the bottom of cages amongst all the excrement.
2.4 I believe that birds cannot fail but
to be highly stressed at these events. Many have to make long,
uncomfortable journeys to the sales. They then have to endure
hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people staring at them, possibly
handling or prodding them whilst they are held in pens/cages too
small for their needs and with nowhere to seek any reassuring
cover. They then have to face another journey and a new home all
on the same day. The noise and heat generated at these events
must cause further stress.
2.5 Such fairs encourage impulse purchasing
of animals that often require very specialised needs. These needs
are often not fully explained or even known by the persons doing
the selling. For instance, I was offered a Blue-Fronted Amazon
at a well-known parrot fair which was actually an Orange Winged
Amazon.
2.6 Sometimes animals are offered for sale
that the breeder has been unable to "off load" elsewhere,
either because they are sick or in poor condition. This could
lead to the spread of disease amongst the animals at the sales
and further to those at the homes of attendees.
2.7 If Pet Fairs are to be licensed, very
stringent rules should be attached to the licence limiting distance
travelled to the sales by the animals, limiting the duration of
the fair to a few hours to reduce the stress on the animals and
ensuring that officials enforce the rules regarding size of cages,
water and other animal welfare considerations.
3. REGULATIONS
AND GUIDANCE
3.1 The draft Bill needs to be read in conjunction
with extant regulations and codes of practice plus new regulations
that it enables in s 6 to s 10.
3.2 It is assumed that current animal welfare
regulations and codes of practice under existing primary legislation
will be retained under the proposed new Act.
4. ENFORCEMENT
4.1 The key to improved animal welfare is
enforcement of its provisions.
4.2 The Government needs to ensure that
Local Authorities carry out their monitoring and inspection duties.
There is likely to be a temptation on the part of local authorities
not to give priority to animal welfare issues for reasons of cost.
Although the wider licensing or registration of organisations
and events makes enforcement easier, there are still likely to
be other circumstances where animals are kept in relatively large
numbers (eg by hobbyists) in potentially unsuitable conditions.
4.3 The Government needs to measure the
performance of Local Authorities in carrying out their welfare
duties.
5. ANIMAL SANCTUARIES
5.1 The draft Animal Welfare Bill discusses
the proposed regulation of Animal Sanctuaries in Annex E and Annex
L. It is not stated how an "Animal Sanctuary" is to
be defined.
24 August 2004
2 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Session
2003-04, Press Notice No 78, "Written evidence on the Government's
draft Animal Welfare Bill", 14 July 2004. Back
3
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs/Welsh Assembly
Government. "Launch of the Draft Animal Welfare Bill",
Cm 6252, July 2004. Back
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