The British Government Response To A Petition

I recently received a response to a petition that I signed some time ago, which was actually the inspiration behind me starting up my own. The author had sent the petition to the British government and the official response can be found here.

However, here is a little excerpt:

"The most recent piece of legislation in this area is the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which came into effect on 6 April 2007. We believe this Act to be a milestone as it brings together and modernises welfare legislation relating to farmed and non-farmed animals, some of which dates from 1911.

The Act places a duty of care for the first time on those who own or are responsible for non-farmed animals. Therefore, it is now an offence to cause any commonly domesticated vertebrate animal unnecessary suffering. The Act also makes it an offence to fail to meet the welfare needs of any animal under the care of man. It will mean that, where necessary, those responsible for the enforcement of welfare laws can take action if an owner is not taking all reasonable steps to ensure the welfare of their animal, even if it is not currently suffering.

The Act also provides powers to regulate animal related activities, or update existing licensing schemes, through secondary legislation such as greyhound racing. Defra's preference is for the industry itself to continue to take responsibility for seeing that the regulations and any supporting code are enforced in those tracks that race under Rules set by the National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC). However, we fully understand the concerns as to whether the industry is fit for purpose in undertaking regulatory work. Defra ministers have met representatives of the industry and stressed that unless there is a much more modern, open and auditable approach by the industry, then Defra will use the new powers in the Animal Welfare Act to appoint an external, independent regulator."

Whilst some areas of the UK do practice what the above preaches, this is by no means the majority of the country. However, it does have to be said that the practices in the UK are better than those in some areas of the world.

There is still a long way to go and one petition won't change things overnight. I wish it could!