The British Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Miliband, is a keen blogger. Here’s his post on the new Animal Welfare Act.
There is usually great debate when Bills come before Parliament, but then little debate when they come into force. That is all the greater pity when Acts are designed to be part of a change of culture, not just a change of law. On Good Friday 2007, the Animal Welfare Act came into force. We believe it is the most significant animal welfare legislation for nearly a century, introducing a duty of care for pet owners to do all that is reasonable to ensure the welfare of their animals – the first-ever welfare requirement for non-farmed animals. It also puts the UK at the forefront of animal welfare legislation around the world.
Pet owners will have a responsibility to ensure a suitable environment (where the pet lives), a suitable diet (what it eats and drinks), that it is able to behave normally, that it is housed with or apart from other animals (whatever is best for that particular animal), and that it is protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease. The Government intends to make more specific laws, under secondary legislation, for particular kinds of activities relating to animals, such as the welfare of racing greyhounds and wild animals in travelling circuses.
