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Animal welfare law in the UK

Pet owners' responsibilities are enforced by the Act ©

The Animal Welfare Act, an overhaul of pet abuse laws, came into force in England and Wales in 2007.

The Act was the first review of pet law in 94 years. It replaced the Protection of Animals Act, first passed in 1911 and designed to prevent outright cruelty to animals. The Animal Welfare Act combined more than 20 pieces of legislation into one.

The Act introduced tougher penalties for neglect and cruelty, including fines of up to £20,000, a maximum jail term of 51 weeks and a lifetime ban on some owners keeping pets. Enforcers such as the RSPCA have more powers to intervene if they suspect a pet is being neglected.

It also introduced a welfare offence for the first time. This places a 'duty of care' on pet owners to provide for their animals' basic needs, such as adequate food and water, veterinary treatment and an appropriate environment in which to live. Previously the 'duty of care' had only existed for farm animals.

The Act also raised from 12 to 16 the minimum age for buying a pet, or winning one as a prize, without parental accompaniment.

It banned the docking (cutting or removal) of animals' tails for cosmetic reasons, with the exception of 'working' dogs such as those in the police and armed forces.

Other acts of animal mutilation are also banned by the Act, but some practices including castrating, spaying cats and dogs and ear-tagging were not made illegal.

Consultation and opinion

Tail-docking is prohibited ©

A public consultation began in January 2002 and included many animal welfare campaigners, including the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and Catholic Concern for Animals (an international animal welfare society). Opinions were divided.

The RSPCA hailed the Act as a breakthrough in the fight against animal cruelty, but Catholic Concern for Animals said the bill was a "good step but did not go far enough."

Jackie Ballard, the RSPCA director general, said: "The new welfare offence will for the first time protect thousands of animals from enduring serious ongoing neglect each year, by legally obliging owners to care for them properly, something the RSPCA has been campaigning on for many, many years."

She added: "Every single day RSPCA inspectors have to watch in frustration and sadness as the neglect of numerous animals at risk turns into suffering. The Animal Welfare Bill would mean we could act before that suffering actually happens."

Deborah Jones, general secretary of Catholic Concern for Animals, praised the Government for placing more "emphasis on pre-emptive action" but called for other reforms.

She explained: "We want outright bans. The bill doesn't include farm animals, laboratory animal welfare and animals used for horse or greyhound racing."

She disagreed with government assurances that farmed animals already have a high standard of protection and did not need to be covered by the bill: "All animals should be given the utmost respect as God's creatures."

But Defra, the government department driving the bill, insists it is the most significant animal welfare legislation to come before Parliament for nearly a century.

Animal Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw defended the Government's record. "Once this legislation is enacted, our law will be worthy of our reputation as a nation of animal lovers," he said.

"We are raising standards of animal welfare. Anyone who is responsible for an animal will have to do all that is reasonable to meet the needs of their animal."

He added: "The vast majority of pet owners and others involved with the care of animals have nothing to fear from this legislation. This Bill is aimed at those few who do not properly fulfil their responsibilities for the animals in their charge."

The Act was published by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) on 14 October 2005 and began its passage through Parliament on 13 October 2005.

Statistics

Ear-cropping is prohibited ©

The RSPCA's cruelty figures for 2006 revealed an 8% increase in rescues and collections from the previous year, an 11% increase in the number of complaints investigated but an 8% reduction in convictions. Dogs remained the most at risk, although there was a reduction in the overall number of offences against dogs (-15.6%) and cats (-9.5%). Offences against horses and ponies, bucking the downward trend, had increased by 33%.

High-profile cruelty cases included a terrier who was left in an abandoned house and had to eat her two dead companions to survive, a Bichon Frisé whose owner was caught on CCTV suspending it from its lead and kicking it, racing greyhounds being transported in cages too small for them to stand up straight or lie down, and a horse and sheep who had been left with untreated crippling injuries and had to be put to sleep.

By mid-2007 Jackie Ballard, the RSPCA's Director General, said the Act was already enabling officers to intervene earlier:

Scotland

The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act came into force in October 2006. It aimed to make the law more robust. The Scottish SPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was among organisations contributing to the draft bill.

Part 1 of the Act is aimed at giving ministers the power to slaughter livestock to prevent the spread of disease. Part 2 deals with animal welfare, cruelty and neglect.

The Act makes it an offence to "fail to take reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of a protected animal" or to cause a protected animal unnecessary suffering (Caring for your Animals, Scottish Executive booklet). A 'protected animal' under the Act is any vertebrate (animal with a backbone) that is looked after by humans. This excludes some invertebrates kept as pets and all wild animals (wild animals and birds are protected under different laws).

The Act bans the sale of animals to under-16s, as in England and Wales, and bans giving animals as prizes altogether. It also removes a loophole that allows the ownership of animals to be transferred to a friend or a family member.

It increases the maximum penalties for causing unnecessary suffering or holding animal fights to a £20,000 fine, a 12-month prison sentence or both. It allows the confiscation of individual animals and allows courts to disqualify people from owning, keeping and working with animals.

The Act bans unnecessary procedures that interfere with an animal's bone structure and sensitive tissue, but when the Act was passed some procedures were left for further discussion. In February 2007 the Scottish Executive confirmed that tail docking was to be banned, while laying regulations permitting other procedures such as ear tagging and microchipping. The ban on tail docking in Scotland came into force in April 2007.