defralaunches

DEFRA Launches Consultation into Dog Welfare

Dog owners will be informed about their dog's welfare needs.
Selena Masson, Shooting Times

Monday, 17 November 2008

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) last week launched a public consultation into a code of practice for the welfare of dogs.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) last week launched a public consultation into a code of practice for the welfare of dogs. Upon its introduction, which is anticipated early next year, it will become a dog owner’s responsibility to read the complete code to understand fully your dog’s welfare needs and what the law requires you to do.

Drawn up as secondary legislation under the terms of the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the provisional code includes such simplistic advice as make sure your dog has a balanced diet that meets its nutritional needs; ensure your dog is kept away from harmful substances; make sure your dog has a suitable place to live and arrange for your dog to be cared for if you are away from home.

DEFRA also launched similar consultations on codes of practice for horses and cats last week. The cat code includes the advice that the creatures are “natural carnivores” and cannot survive on a vegetarian diet, as thousands of songbird lovers will testify.

“The 2006 Animal Welfare Act has been the most important piece of animal legislation for nearly a century,” commented environment secretary Hilary Benn, at the consultations' launch last week. “Animals are now afforded greater protection than ever before. These codes of practice will outline the responsibilities of owners under the Act and give practical advice on how to fulfill them. This means no-one will be able to claim ignorance as an excuse for mistreating any animal.”

If a person fails to comply with a code of practice they will not be liable to proceedings of any kind, but failure to comply with several provisions of the code may be used in evidence to support a prosecution for animal cruelty.

The code's content was described as "absurd" by the Conservatives' animal welfare spokesperson Bill Wiggin MP. He commented:

"Defra has missed the opportunity to produce a set of sensible proposals that would protect animals from abuse and mistreatment. Here we have this ridiculous guide which tells people not to walk their dog in the heat of the day or feed it at the table. Defra is taking people for fools."

An RSPCA spokesperson commented that:

"A new washing machine or pot plant comes with instructions, currently most pets do not. We think the new codes of practice will improve animal welfare and prevent animal suffering through education."

The dog, cat and equine codes will be the first such codes of practice introduced under the terms od the 2006 Animal Welfare Act. Defra recently announced that next year it will be consulting on the contents of a code of practice on game rearing. Other codes that are due to be considered include ones on keeping primates as pets, and a code of practice for pet shop owners.

reprinted with kind permission from Alastair Balmain
Deputy Editor:Shooting Times & Country Magazine
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Consultation on Code of Practice for Welfare Of Dogs