Queen's Speech: Animal welfare

Animal welfare

“Proposals will also be brought forward to promote and protect the welfare ofanimals, including banning imports from trophy hunting. ”

LEGISLATION

The purpose of the legislation is to:

• Increase protections for animals and further improve the welfare of animals in our homes, in agriculture and in the wild
• Increase maximum sentences for animal cruelty from six months to five years.
• Ensure that animals are recognised in domestic law as sentient beings, and that the welfare of sentient animals is taken into consideration in relevant Government policy-making.

The main benefits of the legislation would be:

• Enhancing our reputation as a world leader on animal welfare and protection.
• Increasing the sentences for those who perpetrate cruelty on animals and ensuring they are subjected to the full force of the law.
• Recognising explicitly in domestic law that animals are sentient beings.

The main elements to be taken forward are:

• Extending the current maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences, specified under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, from six months imprisonment to five years imprisonment.
• A clear statement in domestic law that animals are sentient beings, and a duty on Government to have all due regard to the welfare of sentient animals in policy formulation and implementation.

Territorial extent and application

• The Bill's provisions would extend and apply to England and Wales only.
• Whilst animal welfare and sentencing is devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Welsh Government has agreed for the Bill's provisions to apply to Wales.

OTHER MEASURES

• We will issue a consultation pn improving the welfare of live animals that are being transported for slaughter.
• We will issue a call for evidence on primates as pets, recognising that they are wild animals with highly complex needs.
• We will launch a consultation on banning the import and export of trophies from the hunting of endangered animals.

Key facts

• The Government has a strong record on animal welfare and protection of animals, including:

o Introducing mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses, so consumers know high welfare standards are being upheld.

o Banning the use of wild animals in travelling circuses.

o Introducing the world’s toughest bans on ivory sales to help stop the poaching of elephants.

o Banning commercial third party sales of puppies and kittens, to end the terrible welfare conditions found in puppy farming.

• Our measures on sentencing will cover heinous offences such as causing unnecessary suffering, poisoning or mutilating an animal, and dog fighting.
• Although 80 per cent of the 1,000 people prosecuted for animal cruelty each year are convicted, and 10 per cent of those are given custodial sentence, the average sentence for animal cruelty is only about 3.5 months’ imprisonment.
• Placing a clear duty on Ministers of the Crown to consider the welfare of sentient animals goes beyond EU law.
• Last year, the Government issued a call for evidence in relation to future welfare in transport standards, followed by commissioning external research and inviting the Farm Animal Welfare Committee to conduct a review and make recommendations. This has formed the basis of the consultation that will be launched.
• There are clear ethical concerns around the practice of trophy hunting of endangered species. However, some conservationists believe that trophy hunting can be an effective conservation tool, supporting local livelihoods and attracting revenues for other conservation activities..Other organisations such as Born Free and the Campaign for the Ban of Trophy Hunting call for ‘compassionate solutions to conservation challenges’. In May 2019, Ministers held a roundtable with all sides of this debate and the views expressed, these have informed the proposed consultation on further restrictions to the import and export of hunting trophies into and from the UK.
• About 65 per cent of cats are already microchipped.
• In 2013, the coalition government introduced compulsory chipping for dogs. At this time around 58 per cent of dogs were chipped, now around 90 per cent of dogs are microchipped (8 million dogs).