, The Minister for Rural
Affairs and North Wales: As the closing date of our
consultation on the licensing of animal
welfare establishments, activities, and exhibits approaches,
I have been reflecting more widely on what our
landmark Animal Welfare Plan for
Wales has achieved thus far. I have today published
our Year Two Update, and I
am proud of the clear progress made in 2023.
Our ambition is for all animals in Wales to have a good life. Our
Animal Welfare Plan champions exemplary standards, adoption and
sharing of best practice, engagement with stakeholders, effective
enforcement, research, and education, to embed responsible
ownership and advance animal welfare. Our achievements over the
past year demonstrate how this approach is helping to deliver our
priorities and driving significant change.
We are strengthening our enforcement and licensing policy.
Following completion of a Call for Evidence in early 2023 we
launched our licensing consultation
in December. Closing on 1 March 2024, this forms the first stage
of development of a National Model for the regulation of animal
welfare.
The Local Authority Enforcement Project, Animal Licensing Wales,
is now well established with 11 regional enforcement officers,
two support officers and two system coordinators in post. Four
training courses have been delivered to 58 officers across all
Welsh Local Authorities.
In October 2023, I hosted a Summit on Responsible
Dog Ownership: Action on Dangerous Dogs, bringing together Local
Authority and Police Representatives, Third Sector members and
experts to discuss and identify areas for action and improvement.
More workshops will follow throughout 2024, to ensure momentum
isn’t lost, with the first of these held on 15 February.
Our Royal Welsh Show 2023 activities also centred on responsible
pet ownership. Working alongside Animal Licensing Wales, we
covered a range of important subjects such as choosing the right
dog breed for your circumstances, illegal dog breeding,
enforcement, and responsible ownership. As part of this campaign,
we also published dedicated web pages on responsible dog ownership
and responsible cat ownership,
signposting to relevant material produced by our Third Sector
members including Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, the RSPCA and Cat’s
Protection.
Having consulted on proposals, we are on target to introduce
regulations to require CCTV in
slaughterhouses, in all areas where live animals are present,
in the spring.
There are times when there are clear benefits to working
collaboratively with the UK Government to improve animal
welfare. We continue to work together on
proposals to improve animal welfare during transport.
The Animal Welfare (Livestock
Exports) Bill was introduced to the UK Parliament in
December. This is a UK Government Bill to prohibit the export of
livestock and horses for slaughter. I want to see an end to live
animal exports for slaughter. This is why I have laid a
Legislative Consent Memorandum for the Bill, and I hope the
Senedd will support this important Bill as it nears its final
stages.
Livestock attacks continue to be a concern and with the lambing
season well underway I would urge dog owners to engage with
our responsible ownership
webpages and familiarise themselves with Natural Resources
Wales’ Countryside Code. Attacks on livestock have emotional,
financial and welfare ramifications and are preventable through
responsible dog ownership.
Partnership working is key to success, and I am grateful to all
those Stakeholders and Agencies instrumental to the progress made
thus far. An excellent example of partnership working in action
is demonstrated by the multi-agency attendance and subsequent
actions undertaken following the Summit and workshops held on
Responsible Dog Ownership. I look forward to seeing what more we
can achieve together in year three.
