There has been a flurry of recent animal welfare announcements in the run up to Christmas 2023. Here is our round-up of what’s been happening recently.
Penalty notices
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced it will introduce penalty notices of up to £5,000 for certain animal health and welfare offences in England.
Under new legislation that comes into effect on 1 January 2024, local authorities will be able to issue on-the-spot penalty notices for a range of offences, including if someone fails to ensure an animal’s welfare, sells or gives away animals to someone under 16 years of age, or commits licensing offences.
Naturewatch Foundation responded to the public consultation earlier this year to broadly support the proposals, recognising that on-the-spot penalty notices could help encourage compliance with the law before more serious issues arise. However, we cautioned against penalty notices being used as a substitute for prosecutions and expressed concerns about how or whether penalty notices would be monitored, as we know all too well that offending involving animals can be a sign of other serious crimes.
It remains to be seen whether penalty notices will help improve animal welfare enforcement and encourage compliance, but rest assured we will be monitoring the implementation of this policy closely. You can read more about the Government’s penalty notices for animal health and welfare offences here.
Welsh Government consultation on animal activities licensing
The Welsh Government has announced a public consultation on expanding its Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Wales) Regulations 2021. It is seeking views on whether to regulate a wide range of activities involving animals, including dog walking, pet day care, grooming, training, rescue and rehoming centres, keeping primates as pets, amongst other things.
The consultation is open until 1 March 2024 and Naturewatch Foundation will be responding. Find out more and submit your views here.
Puppy smuggling bill
A Private Members’ Bill to tackle puppy and kitten smuggling has been introduced by Selaine Saxby MP. You may remember that measures to increase the age of importation for puppies and kittens were included in the Kept Animals Bill, which was controversially scrapped in May.
Unfortunately, Private Members’ Bills aren’t guaranteed to pass because time in Parliament is limited, but this Bill has a good chance of success. The Bill will return to Parliament on 15th March 2024 and we’ll keep you posted on its progress.
EU dog and cat breeding proposals
The European Commission has proposed introducing EU-wide dog and cat breeding standards for the first time. As part of its proposals, it will introduce minimum requirements around breeding, housing, care and treatment. It has also announced it will improve welfare in transport rules, which will include specific requirements for cats and dogs.
Through our membership of the EU Dog & Cats Alliance, we were pleased to provide input into the European Commission’s consultation. We think the proposals should go further and include measures to protect male dogs used for breeding and tackle harmful breeding practices, but they represent a good start. Find out more the European Commission’s new rules to improve animal welfare.
Find out more about our work to tackle illegal pet breeding and selling illegal pet breeding and selling.
