Memorandum submitted by Dr Irene Rochlitz
BVSc, MSc, PhD, MRCVS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Government's draft Animal Welfare Bill requires
the keeper of an animal to take reasonable steps to ensure the
animal's welfare. The conditions, based on the Five Freedoms,
which should be met in order to ensure the welfare of dogs and
cats, are described.
1. With regard to the recent draft Animal
Welfare Bill, the keeper of an animal has a duty of care, and
is required to take reasonable steps to ensure the animal's welfare.
I propose that the Five Freedoms should be modified, as described
below, in order to be more applicable to assessing the welfare
of companion animals.
2. The following conditions should be provided,
in order to ensure the welfare of domestic dogs and cats:
(a) Provision of food and water: a balanced
diet that meets the animal's nutritional needs at every life stage,
supplied appropriately, fresh water.
(b) Provision of a suitable environment:
adequate space and shelter, no extremes of temperature, adequate
light, low noise levels, cleanliness.
(c) Provision of healthcare: vaccination,
neutering (sterilisation) if appropriate, internal and external
parasite control, identification of the individual (microchip,
collar), prompt access to veterinary care.
(d) Provision of opportunities to express
most normal behaviours, including behaviours directed towards
conspecifics (other animals of the same species) and towards humans.
(e) Provision of protection from conditions
likely to lead to fear and distress
3. I have published a number of articles
on the welfare and housing of domestic cats (eg Rochlitz, I (1999)
Recommendations for the housing of cats in the home, in catteries
and animal shelters, in laboratories and in veterinary surgeries.
Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 1, 181-191; Rochlitz, I
(2000) Chapter 11: Feline welfare issues. In The Domestic Cat:
the biology of its behaviour, edited by D C Turner & P Bateson,
2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; Rochiltz,
I (editor) The Welfare of Cats. Springer Kluwer Academic Publishers,
In Press).
4. I would be pleased to contribute to the
discussions on establishing standards of care to ensure the optimal
welfare of domestic cats.
Dr I Rochlitz
Animal Welfare and Human-Animal Interactions Group,
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge
23 August 2004
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