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The Government published the Animal Welfare Bill
in October.
The United
Kingdom has a long history of protecting animals from
cruelty, and was in fact, the first country in the world to
introduce parliamentary legislation for animal welfare. The
Protection of Animals Act was passed in 1911, which made it
an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal.
However, much of this legislation is now out dated and fails
to provide animals with standards of welfare appropriate for
our times. The Government has carried out a public
consultation on what people would like to see in twenty
first century welfare legislation, and is now inviting
comment on the draft Bill.
The Bill
introduces a clear legal definition of cruelty against an
animal, and provide new powers to the courts, police, and
government law enforcement agencies to deal effectively with
people who ill treat or neglect animals in their care.
I feel that
these are vital reforms that need to become law in order to
properly legislate for the protection of animals. This
Government has delivered some important animal welfare
measures since 1997, including banning fur farming, securing
and end to the testing of cosmetics on animals and requiring
all trainers and exhibitors of animals to be registered with
local authorities, and I will continue to closely monitor
the progress of the Bill.
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