Protecting animal welfare

Issue

Whether we farm animals for food, keep them as pets, or use them for recreation, we need to make sure they are properly looked after.

This requires more than simply protecting them from cruelty. We need to meet their needs for food, water and living space, protect them from disease, and create a healthy and stress-free living environment for them. When we slaughter animals for food, we need to ensure that, as far as possible, they have calm, painless deaths.

Anyone who owns or keeps animals is responsible for their welfare.

Actions

Animal welfare legislation

We use EU and national legislation to protect animal welfare in the UK. There is legislation on all aspects of animal farming, including animal welfare on farms, during transport, at markets and at slaughter. There is also legislation relating to pets.

Codes of practice

We provide codes of practice to help farmers (and anyone else who keeps an animal):

• understand what the EU and national animal welfare laws mean
• understand what they need to do to comply with the rules

These also have advice on good practice for animal husbandry.

We’re working with industry on changing the way these codes are produced and updated. We aim to make them more user-friendly, and based on the latest science and technology.

Pets (companion animals)

We provide guidance on the legislation dealing with welfare of companion animals (pets). We’re putting in place new measures to improve dog welfare and encourage dog owners to be responsible.

Dog microchipping

It will be compulsory for all dogs to be microshipped from 6 April 2016.

Dangerous dogs

We’ve introduced stronger laws about dangerous dogs. It’s now against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere, including the owner’s home. We have made new laws which will help prevent dog attacks.

We consulted on these proposals in 2012.

Circuses

We’re working to introduce a ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses. The current rules say:

• travelling circuses that intend to use wild animals must be licensed to do so
• anyone training and exhibiting such animals must be registered with the appropriate local authority

There’s no EU legislation on the welfare of animals in circuses.

Advice and guidance for farmers

We publish advice for farmers to help them with topical welfare issues, like coping with severe weather conditions.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) provides technical advice for farmers and others involved in animal health and welfare, including the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and British Veterinary Association.

We work with agencies and governments in the devolved administrations to make sure that all the advice and guidance we offer is consistent and reflects the latest policy developments.

Monitoring animal welfare

Through the AHVLA, we monitor and inspect farms, markets and transport premises to check that the laws on animal health and welfare are being upheld. The Food Standards Agency monitors slaughterhouses.

Where possible, we and the AHVLA work with local authorities, and other bodies like the Rural Payments Agency which also makes checks on farms, so our monitoring of animal welfare is as extensive as it can be. We prosecute people who break the law.

Welfare at slaughter

We’re implementing new EU rules, EU Regulation 1099/2009, on the protection of animal welfare at slaughter. These came into force on 1 January 2013.

New national legislation (the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations) will come into force in autumn 2013.

We meet the requirements of EU law to:

• monitor and inspect slaughterhouses
• make sure slaughtermen are properly trained and licensed
• make sure that appropriate methods of killing and slaughter processes are used

Welfare in transport

Standards on welfare in transport are set by EU law, implemented by national law. We:

• work with local authorities and AHVLA to ensure these standards are met
• provide guidance to help people transporting animals

See further details about how we protect animal welfare in transport.

International animal welfare

We work with the EC and other member states, with the support of international animal welfare organisations and other interested groups, to try and raise global standards of animal welfare in forums like the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health).

See more information about how we work to protect the welfare of wild animals in travelling circuses.

Laws about hunting and harvesting animals

We make and maintain laws about hunting and harvesting animals, to make sure this isn’t done in a cruel or excessive way. These include:

game birds
badgers seals
deer

We also regulate methods of killing or taking animals (like pesticides and spring traps) so that these are used effectively, safely and humanely.

These restrictions can apply to specific species, or in some cases all wild animals. The Welfare Act extends to protection of all wild animals. Wild mammals are also protected from acts of intentional cruelty.

Evidence and research

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), on behalf of all UK administrations, funds a programme of research on animal welfare. This provides evidence to inform animal welfare policies.

Background

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 was introduced to provide legal clarity on the basic welfare requirements on all animal owners and keepers in a single piece of national legislation.

Under the act, anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare needs, may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison.

More specific legislation is also applied to the particular circumstances in different sectors of industry.

Who we’re working with

The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) provides independent advice to the UK government (and the governments in Scotland and Wales) on the welfare of farmed animals (including in relation to welfare at killing, where they are the UK government’s nominated scientific body).

The Companion Animal Welfare Council provides scientific and technical advice to government on the welfare of pets generally.

 

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Resource Management, the Local Environment and Environmental Science
Minister of State for Agriculture and Food
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP
Animal Health and Welfare Board for England
Animal and Plant Health Agency

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