AM:...The
situation we find in the farmed environment at the moment is
radically different from where we were 20 years ago, without a
shadow of a doubt, when it comes to animal welfare. We have a
consumer who is far better informed today over purchasing the
product off the shelf that they wish to consume and, very often
through their tastes and demands, drive improvements in welfare
at the farm gate. We've seen a plethora of farm assurance schemes
come forward in the livestock sector to give that assurance to
the consumer when they're making that informed choice—the red
tractor logo being one of the schemes,
RSPCA Assured livestock, with their
welfare badging, is another one, and I could go on because there
are many. In fact, one of the issues, I would suggest, is maybe
there are too many assurance schemes out there, and if they could
be brought together either under one or two labels, that would
assist informing the consumer of what they're actually
purchasing...
AM (Cabinet
Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural
Affairs):...Andrew R.T. Davies raised the issue of the
importance of enforcement officers within our local authorities
and our other agencies, and, certainly, it's very important
that, when we see poor animal welfare, it's dealt with very
swiftly, and the days that I've spent with the
RSPCA, for instance, and the north Wales
rural crime team, assure me that that is indeed happening, but
it is very important that local authorities have the capacity
across Wales...
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