The Animal Welfare Bill 7 DECEMBER 2005 Bill No 58 of 2005-06
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RESEARCH PAPER 05/87 The Animal Welfare Bill 7 DECEMBER 2005 Bill No 58 of 2005-06 The Animal Welfare Bill 2005 was published on 13 October 2005 and is due for its second reading towards the end of 2005 or the very beginning of 2006. The Bill seeks to consolidate and modernise animal welfare legislation in England and Wales. It is an enabling Bill under which a variety of activities and practices involving animals may be regulated. A number of these are discussed in a series of Library Standard Notes available on the Library intranet Animal Welfare Subject Page. Oliver Bennett SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT SECTION HOUSE OF COMMONS LIBRARY Recent Library Research Papers include: 05/71 The EU Accession Bill [Bill 51 of 2005-06] 26.10.05 05/72 Afghanistan – The Culmination of the Bonn Process 26.10.05 05/73 The Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill 01.11.05 [Bill 57 of 2005-06] 05/74 Economic Indicators, November 2005 01.11.05 05/75 Background to the Forthcoming Armed Forces Bill 11.11.05 05/76 Unemployment by Constituency, October 2005 16.11.05 05/77 Equality Bill [Bill 85 of 2005-06] 17.11.05 05/78 Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill [Bill 81 of 2005-06] 17.11.05 05/79 The Health Bill: Part I Smokefree premises, places and 22.11.05 vehicles [Bill 69 of 2005-06] 05/80 The Health Bill (excluding Part 1) [Bill 69 of 2005-06] 23.11.05 05/81 The Childcare Bill [Bill 80 of 2005-06] 23.11.05 05/82 The Work and Families Bill [Bill 60 of 2005-06] 24.11.05 05/83 The Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill 28.11.05 [Bill 18 of 2005-06] 05/84 Economic Indicators, December 2005 01.12.05 05/85 The UK Parliament and European Business 02.12.05 Research Papers are available as PDF files: • to members of the general public on the Parliamentary web site, URL: http://www.parliament.uk • within Parliament to users of the Parliamentary Intranet, URL: http://hcl1.hclibrary.parliament.uk Library Research Papers are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general public. Any comments on Research Papers should be sent to the Research Publications Officer, Room 407, 1 Derby Gate, London, SW1A 2DG or e-mailed to [email protected] ISSN 1368-8456 Summary of main points The Animal Welfare Bill 2005 was published on 13 October 2005 and is due for its second reading towards the end of 2005 or the very beginning of 2006. The Bill will be the most significant piece of animal welfare legislation for nearly a century. It seeks to consolidate and modernise animal welfare legislation in England and Wales, bringing together over 20 Acts relating to farmed and non-farmed animals, some of which date from 1911. It does not relate to wild animals living in the wild. Amongst other things it will introduce a new duty on people responsible for vertebrate animals to ensure their welfare, enabling enforcement agencies to take action if an owner is not taking all reasonable steps even where the animal is not currently suffering. It also seeks to close a number of loopholes in existing legislation as well as strengthening penalties and ensuring better enforcement of legislation. In addition it will increase from 12 to 16 the minimum age at which a child may buy an animal, and prohibit the giving of pets as prizes to unaccompanied children under the age of 16. It is an enabling Bill under which a variety of activities involving animals will be regulated using secondary legislation. This is probably the most contentious aspect of the Bill, with activities such as tail docking, greyhound racing, and pet fairs all proposed to be regulated following Royal Assent. A number of Library Standard Notes give further information about these activities; they can be found on the Library intranet Animal Welfare Subject Page. The Scottish Parliament is also currently updating animal welfare legislation. Information about this can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/billsInProgress/animal.htm List of Acronyms ACPO – Association of Chief Police Officers ADI – Animal Defenders International APC – Animal Procedures Committee BHS – British Horse Society CDB – Council of Docked Breeds Defra – Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs EFRA – Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee FAWC – Farm Animal Welfare Council IFAW – International Fund for Animal Welfare ILPH – International League for the Protection of Horses LACORS – Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services NGO – Non-Governmental Organisation NFU – National Farmers’ Union PACE – Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 RIA – Regulatory Impact Assessment RSPCA – Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SCL – Society of Conservative Lawyers SSPCA – Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SVS – State Veterinary Service CONTENTS I Background 9 A. Extent of animal cruelty and neglect 12 1. Enforcement action and prosecutions 12 2. All prosecutions 13 II Animals to which the Bill applies 13 A. Definition of animal 14 1. Extension of the “animal” definition to certain invertebrates 14 2. The Bill 16 B. Definition of protected animal 17 1. Protected animal 17 2. Fishing 19 3. The Bill 20 C. Definition of responsible person 21 III Offences 22 A. Prevention of harm (cruelty) 22 1. The Bill 24 2. Mens rea of unnecessary suffering offence 24 3. Mental suffering 28 4. Determination of unnecessary suffering 28 B. Mutilation 30 1. The draft Bill 30 2. The Bill 32 C. Fighting 33 1. The Bill 34 D. Promotion of welfare 34 1. The draft Bill 34 2. The Bill 37 3. Provision of basic welfare needs 38 4. Abandonment 41 5. The giving of animals as prizes and sale of animals to under 16s 43 IV Delegated powers 44 A. Regulations to promote welfare 45 1. The draft Bill 45 B. Licensing and registration of certain activities 47 1. The draft Bill 47 2. The Bill 49 3. Other licensing issues 51 C. Codes of practice 54 D. Scrutiny of delegated powers 55 1. Consultation 55 2. Parliamentary scrutiny 56 V Enforcement, prosecution and penalties 57 A. Introduction 57 B. Enforcement 58 1. Animals in distress 58 2. Powers of entry 63 3. Appointment of inspectors 65 4. Regional enforcement 68 5. Compensation and other protections 71 C. Prosecution powers 72 1. Improvement notices 72 2. Persons authorised to act as prosecutors under the Bill 74 D. Powers following conviction 76 1. Level of penalties 77 2. Disqualification orders 80 VI Other issues raised by the Committee 82 A. The Regulatory Impact Assessment 82 B. Delegated legislation: Proposed and possible secondary legislation and codes of practice 85 1. Licensing of riding schools; licensing of dog and cat boarding; licensing of pet shops 86 2. Licensing of livery yards 87 3. Compulsory information leaflets to be provided by animal vendors 88 4. Sale of pet animals over the internet 89 RESEARCH PAPER 05/87 I Background At present, the main piece of protection legislation for domestic animals is the Protection of Animals Act 1911 which consolidated 19th century laws on animal welfare. It defined the basic requirement not to subject animals to unnecessary suffering. Over 20 Acts have subsequently been passed to regulate specific areas of animal welfare such as the use of animals in the performing arts, puppy farms and the tethering of horses. Examples include: • Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 • Pet Animals Act 1951 • Cock Fighting Act 1952 • Abandonment of Animals Act 1960 • Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963 • Riding Establishments Act 1964 and 1970 • Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act 1999 More information is available on the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website about all of these Acts.1 The existing legislative framework has come under judicial criticism for ambiguities and out-dated language which have allowed loopholes in the law to occur. In addition, it is now widely accepted that animals do not suffer solely as a result of physical abuse or as a result of deliberate actions or neglect. Some commentators believe that an animal’s quality of life in terms of its physiological and other needs should be adequately represented in legislation. There are also concerns that the existing legislative framework is out-dated, confusing and overly complex.2 Some animal welfare legislation is specific to a particular purpose such as the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 which lays down the rules under which animals may be experimented upon. The Animal Welfare Bill 2005 (“the Bill”) has no direct application to animals used in scientific procedures. Defra launched a consultation on 2 January 2002 to look at ways in which animal protection legislation could be improved upon. A total of 2,351 responses were received from a variety of interested parties, amongst them animal welfare groups, commercial interests, dog breeding societies, veterinary surgeons and individual members of the public. An analysis of the replies can be found on the Defra website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/awbillconsultanalysis.pdf The consultation was followed by a series of meetings with stakeholder groups which culminated in the publication of a draft Animal Welfare Bill on 14 July 2004. 1 http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/index.htm 2 Defra, The Consultation on an Animal Welfare Bill; An analysis of the replies, August 2002 http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/awbillconsultanalysis.pdf 9 RESEARCH PAPER 05/87 The response of animal welfare groups such as the RSPCA to the publication of the draft Bill was broadly positive.