improving the welfare and protection of animals ten...

>>> www.politicalanimal.org.uk

IMPROVING THE

Welfare and protection of animals

Ten issues for action by the next UK Government:

a guide for political

party manifestos

2 Ten issues for action


Contents

Introduction 4

Harnessing consumer power: a stronger and fairer society

Establish mandatory labelling on method of production of chickens; mandatory country of origin labelling showing where the animal has been reared and slaughtered; mandatory labelling on the slaughter methods for animals.

5

Review the Government Buying standards (GBS). 6

Incentivise improvements to slaughter and live transport by establishing mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses and reducing long-distance transport of animals.

6

Link the funding for the Research Councils to a target for funding the development of humane alternatives to animal experiments, and end the use of animals in scientific procedures involving severe suffering.

7

The rights and responsibilities of individuals and the state

The government should introduce standards to improve breeding conditions for animals.

7

Updating the legislation on selling animals. 8

Ensuring statutory enforcement of animal legislation at a local level.

8

Commit to having a sustainable and science-led approach to bovine TB control.

9

The use of wild animals in circuses. 9

Hunting ban on wild animals. 9

Some key animal welfare facts 10


Improving animal welfare and how we view animals is an integral part of a civilised society. The world’s first animal protection law was enacted in England in 1822, shortly followed by the establishment of the world’s first animal protection organisation – now the RSPCA – in 1824.

Introduction

Society and technology have changed significantly since

then, with global changes in information sharing and in

technological changes that have added new challenges to

old issues such as dog fighting and animal transport, which

have been issues of concern since 1824. For instance, the

internet has taken over from pet shops as the most

important sales outlet for dogs and cats, and genetically

modified animals now represent around half of all the

animals used in scientific procedures.

The issue of animal welfare, and how animals are treated,

continues to be fundamentally important to the general

public in the UK. Animal welfare generates the largest

post bags to Members of the European Parliament and

to MPs; in March 2014 the animal welfare Minister

acknowledged that pressure from the welfare lobby was

“consistent and considerable”1. For example, 62 percent

of the British public felt that animal welfare did not receive

enough importance in the country’s food policy2 and

55 percent would be willing to change shopping patterns

to buy animal welfare friendly products3.

Whilst the UK likes to see itself as being at the forefront of

improving animal welfare, in some areas such as the use of

wild animals in circuses, this claim is looking outdated.

Balanced against this is the erroneous perception that

improving animal welfare standards in the UK will have a

detrimental impact on the UK’s competitiveness or merely

export the relevant industry overseas.

Understanding of animals, their behaviours and their needs

has progressed enormously in the past few decades.

Accurately assessing animal welfare has been better

enabled by basing judgements on ‘welfare outcomes’.

Such assessments are now being embedded into farm

production schemes such as Freedom Food which uses

them on its laying hens, pigs and dairy farms. They also

inform government legislation such as on the welfare of

meat chickens. We are also becoming better at reporting

on animal welfare. The RSPCA produced annual

assessments of the state of animal welfare in the UK from

2005-9, showing that animal welfare had worsened in five

of the 34 indicators measured, and improved in nine

areas over that period4. In 2014, the sole government

report on progress and future work on animal welfare was

produced, on the implementation of the Coalition Pledge

to reduce the use of animals in research5.

There is a growing body of evidence to show the links

between good animal welfare and social well-being.

Evidence from four countries including the UK shows a link

between pet ownership and better human health6, and in

the recent floods the RSPCA rescued over 550 animals

including a number of pets that needed fostering whilst

their owners were relocated. The RSPCA’s Pet Retreat

scheme, which helps victims of domestic abuse escape

their situation by finding foster homes for their pets, has

helped nearly 1,000 families since it was set up in 2002,

and in 2013 received requests for assistance from over 500

families. Finally the RSPCA now has a formal information

sharing exchange with the NSPCC on ‘at risk’ children it

sees when investigating animal cruelty.

Animal welfare is now almost entirely devolved but the

RSPCA recognises the opportunity to achieve a

commitment from the incoming UK Government for

making improvements on non-devolved issues and for

improving the standards in England for those issues that

are devolved. So the RSPCA recognises the hugely positive

opportunity provided to achieve a commitment from the

incoming UK Government for improving standards in

England and making progress in non-devolved areas.

This document outlines some options for moving forward

for the next five years.


BACKGROUND

The European Commission has proposed the introduction

of country of origin labelling but the exact terms are still to

be agreed. For this to have any meaning it should clearly

set out where the animal has been born, reared and

slaughtered as this would clearly show how far it has been

transported and would support local production, reduce

suffering in long distance transport and give the consumer

clear information on where the animal has been produced.

EU law already mandates labelling for shell eggs.

Introduced in 2004 it not only gave consumers the

information they required on the provenance of their eggs,

it helped develop the market for free-range eggs. In the UK

sales of free-range eggs increased from 22 percent of the

market share in 2001 to 33 percent in 2007 and whilst barn

eggs market share has remained constant, caged eggs’

share had declined to 51 percent by 2013. There was a five

percent increase in market share of free-range eggs in the

four year period after mandatory labelling was introduced

in January 2004 highlighting the effectiveness of a

mandatory labelling scheme. Free-range eggs now

represent over 50 percent of egg sales.

Agreed method of production terms already exist and are

used by retailers to label pigmeat from various higher

welfare pig production systems of pigs and could be used

as the starting point. For meat chickens, EU marketing

standards for poultry meat already define methods of

production for free-range and extensive indoor chickens

only leaving the terms to be agreed for meat from

chickens reared under basic indoor systems.

Under European law relating to the slaughter of animals,

the Commission is obliged to come forward with research

showing consumer understanding and preferences for

labelling on how an animal is slaughtered. This will now

report in the second half of 2014 and any legislative

proposals will be agreed by the incoming Commission.

The RSPCA supports better information to consumers

on how their meat has been slaughtered, in particular

to allow consumers to chose whether to buy meat from

animals who have not been pre-stunned. This is

especially relevant for the government’s buying

policy for prisons and schools where meat from non

pre-stunned animals could be used without the

consumers’ knowledge.

Policy ideas Harnessing consumer power: a stronger and fairer society

Ensuring transparency in the food chain and the right of consumers to understand the origins of the food and other products they are buying.

1. Establish mandatory labelling on method of

production of chickens; mandatory country

of origin labelling showing where the animal

has been reared and slaughtered; mandatory

labelling on the slaughter methods for animals.

WHAT WE WANT

The government to agree that mandatory labelling

on method of production is important and press

the Commission to bring in proposals on this –

starting with chicken labelling. The UK to agree

that mandatory labelling on method of slaughter is

important and to press for proposals on this in

Europe and look at methods to improve

transparency in the UK on this issue.


BACKGROUND

We believe that the government’s procurement standards

(GBS), which introduced animal welfare provisions for the

first time when they were launched in September 2011,

need to be reviewed and revised. A review is due in

summer 2014 which will look at changes in the standards

to promote British food and products. This is a good

opportunity to revise the GBS on animal welfare. At

present the standards on fish procurement go above UK

minimum by for instance setting targets for use of Marine

Stewardship Council-approved fish or higher

environmental standards but there are no stretching

targets on animal welfare. The GBS use baseline standards

and do not recommend higher welfare standards such as

free-range eggs, use of assurance schemes or meat from

animals who have been pre-stunned.

2. Review the Government Buying

Standards (GBS)

WHAT WE WANT

The government to recommend the use of

effectively placed and utilised mandatory CCTV

in all slaughterhouses and to incentivise

opportunities through the Rural Development

Programmes for increasing sheep and

lamb retention in the UK and so reduce long-

distance transport .

WHAT WE WANT

The government to agree that its procurement

standards need to be improved and to introduce

new standards that promote higher animal welfare

standards particularly on eggs and meat.

BACKGROUND

The majority of abattoirs used by retailers now have CCTV

and the RSPCA welfare standards used by Freedom Food

have mandated 100 percent CCTV coverage in abattoirs

since 2011. However this accounts for less than half the

abattoirs in the UK – the last Food Standards Agency (FSA)

report showed that 38 percent of the 253 red meat

slaughterhouses and 56 percent of the 75 poultry

slaughterhouses surveyed had CCTV.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recommended use

of CCTV as a monitoring tool as it provides a way of

observing the slaughtermen without them being aware

they are being monitored7. A number of

prosecutions of abattoirs for breach of slaughter

regulations and animal welfare provisions, have highlighted

the need for greater transparency.

3. Incentivise improvements to slaughter and

live transport by establishing mandatory

CCTV in slaughterhouses and reducing long-

distance transport of animals.

Costs of CCTV implementation will vary depending on the

numbers of cameras required. Cameras need to be

positioned to record all activities at every point during the

unloading, lairage, handling, stunning and killing processes

when an animal could be at risk. Cost is reported to range

from £3,000 for the smaller abattoirs to £10,000 for large

abattoirs. Whilst it is recognised that additional costs are

more of an issue for small abattoirs, when the RSPCA

standards were changed to require mandatory CCTV, all

Freedom Food scheme abattoir members remained in the

scheme and installed CCTV.

Whilst the numbers of calves and sheep being transported

to the continent for slaughter has reduced in the past five

years8, there are no plans to review or improve the

legislation at a European level until at least 2016. The calf

trade reduced by some 90 percent over the past seven

years due to incentives being put in place by retailers and

others to rear animals that used to be transported

overseas. The governments in England and Wales have a

real opportunity to offer incentives for the sheep industry

under the rural development plans for England and Wales,

to encourage farmers to retain and rear sheep in the UK

rather than send them abroad.


4. Link the funding for the Research Councils

to a target for funding the development of

humane alternatives to animal experiments,

and end the use of animals in scientific

procedures involving severe suffering.

BACKGROUND

In January 2014 the government published its delivery

plan on animal experiments9, which was the first time a

government had set out proposed actions to reduce the

use of animals in experiments. The plan details the amount

of funding it provides to the National Centre for the

Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in

Research (NC3Rs) as one indication of its commitment

towards developing and promoting alternatives. The

RSPCA welcomes this commitment but believes that a

proper target should be set for funding alternatives through

a proportion of the life science budget.

In 2012/3 the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

(BIS) gave £300 million of funding grants to the four main

research councils (MRC, BBSRC, EPSRC, NERC) for projects

that involve animal use, but in the same year it provided

funding for research into alternatives that totalled just

£8.6 million, of which £7.1 million was given to the NC3Rs10.

Based on these figures, funding for alternatives represents

less than three percent of the total funding provided for

WHAT WE WANT

The government should increase the funding

directed towards developing and promoting

humane alternatives to animal experiments

through the grants given by the Research Councils,

and implement a policy decision not to license the

use of animals in scientific procedures expected to

cause ‘severe’ suffering .

research involving animals (or around 1/35th of the total).

Whilst the funding for the NC3Rs has more than doubled

since 2008/9, total government funding for research into

alternatives has only risen by 17 percent during the same

time period. The RSPCA would like to see more

transparency around this funding figure. The RSPCA also

wants all the major funding bodies to agree a time frame

for committing a significantly higher proportion of their

funding into the development and promotion of humane

alternatives, and to integrate humane approaches into all

life science research using animals.

In 2015 the UK Government will publish the first ever data

showing the actual levels suffering experienced by animals

involved in scientific procedures, including those classified

as ‘severe’. The RSPCA would like to see a clear

commitment to ending the use of animals in procedures

that cause severe suffering over the next five-year term.


2. Updating the legislation on selling animals.

BACKGROUND

Prospective pet owners can purchase dogs that may have

been illegally imported without the proper documentation

or vaccinations, reptiles without the appropriate care and

housing information and dogs that have been bred in

unlicensed conditions which do not meet the needs of the

animals (see also the point above). A consumer obtains

more information and is better protected when buying

a washing machine than a Burmese python or a

German shepherd dog.

Legislation on sales of animals is 63 years old (Pet Animals

Act 1951) and has failed to keep up with technological

changes. It is estimated that over a third of all animal

purchases are through the internet, essentially an

unregulated sales outlet for pets. In 2013 the government

agreed voluntary guidelines for internet websites that sell

animals; the effectiveness of these should be reviewed

and, if not working, be replaced by mandatory standards.

The government should undertake a wholesale review

of the legislation and standards and introduce

regulations that provide better controls over the dealing,

trading and selling of animals.

There are also some species that require very specialised

keeping such as primates. Evidence shows that primates

are easily obtained and somewhere in the region of 3,000-

9,000 may be kept as pets in Great Britain. From the

RSPCA’s experience, as well as that of specialist primate

sanctuaries, welfare problems are widespread and serious.

Regulations should be brought in to prohibit the keeping

and trade of primates pets with the current population

registered and capped – to live out the rest of their lives

with as high a level of welfare as possible.

WHAT WE WANT

The government to bring in regulations that

update and improve the controls over the selling of

animals and to specifically prohibit the keeping

and trade of primates as pets with the current

population registered and capped – to live out the

rest of their lives with as high a level of welfare

as possible.

The rights and responsibilities of individuals and the state

Ensuring citizens and the state are clear about their rights and responsibilities when ensuring animal welfare.

1. The government should introduce standards

to improve breeding conditions for animals.

BACKGROUND

Although any prospective pet owner has a responsibility to

know what their animal’s welfare needs are, it is clear that

animals are being sold whose health and welfare is not

being protected. Dogs are being bred under standards that

are over 40 years old and legislation on sales outlets only

covers pet shops despite the fact that few are now sold

through pet shops and more are sold through the internet.

The government has failed to update any of the pet

legislation that was planned under the Animal Welfare

Act 2006, including changes to the Breeding of Dogs Act

1973. Wales is in the process of introducing proposals to

improve the licensing of dog breeding, in particular by

reducing the number of litters a bitch can have before the

breeder must be licensed, defining specific standards that

any licensed breeding premises should operate under and

making a specific staff/animal ratio mandatory to ensure

welfare and safety standards are maintained. England

should follow by agreeing secondary legislation under

the Animal Welfare Act to update and improve the dog

breeding standards.

WHAT WE WANT

The government to update the dog breeding

legislation to include better licensing conditions

and standards for dogs being bred.


3. Ensuring statutory enforcement of animal

legislation at a local level.

BACKGROUND

There are very few laws that provide statutory

requirements for local authorities to enforce. Examples

of these include dealing with stray dogs and licensing of

certain animal-related activities, such as pet shops,

breeding establishments and boarding establishments.

The majority of legislation concerning animals does not

require any particular agency to enforce it and it can be

enforced by local authorities, the police and the RSPCA –

for example, the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Because

different agencies can lead on investigations this results in

differences in standards and levels of service in different

areas of the country which is not helpful to the public or

for protecting animal welfare.

There have been numerous cut backs in budgets within

local authorities and the police leaving increasingly smaller

resources to tackle such issues – this is particularly

noticeable with stray dogs and it is increasingly becoming

a ‘postcode lottery’ as to whether some local authorities

provide such a service (despite it being statutory).

Resources and knowledge are needed if animal welfare

is to be protected and a mechanism for funding the public

sector in this area needs to be established. The Antisocial

Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 is designed to

improve dog and horse control but has no budget and

offers little practical guidance on how to use it.

WHAT WE WANT

Clear guidance from the government to local

authorities on how to enforce the Anti social

Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to enforce

standards on horse passports and fly grazing and

amended legislation to make it easier for local

authorities to remove horses being fly grazed.

Clear guidance needs to be provided to local

authorities on how to implement the legislation

on stray dogs and the Animal Welfare Act .

A good example of where the system is failing animal

welfare is the current horse crisis. Over the past five years,

the RSPCA has received 67 percent more calls on horses

and rescued 149 percent more. This is due to a number of

factors including too many horses being fly grazed and

the lack of enforcement of the horse identification

legislation. We estimate that 70 percent of horses coming

into our care are not microchipped and so their

owners could be avoiding the legislation.

The lack of an effective passport system led directly to the

horse meat scandal in 2013 as horses were going into the

food chain that had been identified as not fit for human

consumption. Some 5,300 horse are being fly grazed in

the UK and 6,500 horses are at risk of animal welfare

problems. Wales changed their law on fly grazing in 2014

to make it easier for local authorities to remove horses

being fly grazed 11 England needs to follow.


5. The use of wild animals in circuses.

BACKGROUND

In the past five years when the government has been

considering a ban on wild animals in circuses, seven

countries including Costa Rica, Greece and Paraguay have

passed laws to ban their use in circuses. Whilst there are

only two circuses in England and Wales that use wild

animals and 25 wild animals left in them, the failure of

successive governments to address this issue risks the UK

losing its reputation as a leader on animal welfare. Seven

EU countries as well as many outside Europe (including

Colombia, Israel, Peru and Singapore) have all successfully

adopted bans. There is good scientific evidence that shows

the welfare of wild animals can be compromised by the

transport and living conditions in travelling circuses. The

government agreed a draft Bill in 2013 which has been

through pre-legislative scrutiny, but it ran out of time to

introduce the Bill in 2014 as it did in 2010 .

WHAT WE WANT

The government to bring in a ban on the use of

wild animals in circuses.

6. Hunting ban on wild animals.

BACKGROUND

The Hunting Act 2004 has now been in force for nine years

and prosecutions taken during this time show that it is

enforceable and proportionate in protecting wildlife in

England and Wales. It is important that the Act is not

overturned or amended to allow more dogs to be used

and enforcement is improved at all hunt meets.

WHAT WE WANT

The government to maintain the prohibition on

hunting wild mammals with dogs.

4. Commit to having a sustainable and science-

led approach to bovine TB control.

BACKGROUND

InJuly 2013 the UK government published its 25-year

strategy on bovine TB which divided the country into three

geographical areas: High risk, Edge areas and Low risk. The

proposal to agree and license any new culls of badgers in

the High risk zone in up to ten new areas a year was to be

determined by the successful conclusion of two pilot culls in

Somerset and Gloucestershire. These culls had originally

been announced in December 2011 and the measures of

'success' would be judged against the effectiveness of

removing target percentages of badgers, the safety of the

cull and humaneness of the shooting methods.

Even after reductions in target badger numbers and

extended pilot culling periods, the culling companies failed

to achieve the 70 percent target reduction in badger

populations – in Somerset it reached under 50 percent and

in Gloucester less than 39 percent. Expert scientific opinion

strongly suggests this is likely to result in widespread

perturbation of badger populations, increasing the

prevalence of infection among remaining badgers and

therefore increasing the risk to cattle. The culls also failed

the humaneness test with up to 18 percent of culled

badgers taking longer than five minutes to die12.

However the government, whilst it has dropped plans to

licence further culls, has pressed ahead with the second

year of badger culling in Gloucestershire and Somerset

due to start in summer 2014.

WHAT WE WANT

The government to suspend the cull of badgers

and invest in badger vaccination in high risk TB

areas as well as edge areas. Additional funding

should also be available for licensing a cattle

vaccine and further improvements to cattle

movement restrictions and biosecurity measures.


Some key animal welfare facts The challenge is to convert the British aspiration for improving animal welfare into reality, whether that is food or product purchasing, understanding the needs of their pet animals or wanting to live in a society that is has accepted levels of behaviour towards animals.

Free-range egg sales now represent around

50 percent of shell egg sales in the UK.

Polling in 2012 showed that 83 percent of UK

consumers want method of production

labelling, which clearly identifies the farming

system used to produce the food, extended to

meat and dairy products13.

The number of horses collected by RSPCA

inspectors has increased by 149 percent over

the past five years – inspectors have to rescue

an average of three horses daily. The numbers

of convictions for animal cruelty to horses has

increased by 176 percent in the past five years.

The numbers of animals being used in

procedures has increased steadily since 2001

and is now 4.11 million animals, 48 percent of

which are genetically modified; the numbers

of genetically modified animals used rose by

22 percent on 2011.

Annual UK government food contracts for

procurement total £2 billion.

Nineteen percent of people that bought a

puppy no longer have the dog within two years

of purchase.

There was a 73 percent increase in calls to the

RSPCA about pet primates between 2012

and 2013.

The numbers of cats entering the top five cat

rescue organisations increased by five percent

between 2010-12. Most rescue organisations

have no further capacity. The RSPCA now

holds 40 percent of its cats in private boarding

as there is no room in its centres, increasing

costs – this is due to people not neutering their

animals and not understanding the needs of

the cats when getting them.

75 percent of cats are acquired as kittens,

mainly from friends and family; 50 percent

of those that get their kittens spontaneously

are likely not to neuter their cat; the value of

the neutering industry is estimated to be

£45 million.

There was a rise of 86 percent in the numbers

of dogs imported to the UK under the Pet

Travel Scheme in the two years after border

and quarantine controls were eased in 2012;

from some countries such as Hungary,

Lithuania, and Romania imports rose by four,

five, and 11 times. It is thought many of these

would have been imported illegally.

In 2013 numbers of animals under Freedom

Food RSPCA standards represented over

30 percent of the British pig herd, over 50

percent of the laying hen flock and around

15 percent of the turkey flock.

FOOTNOTES

1. Hansard, 4 March 2014, col 1214

2. European Commission, 2005. Eurobarometer – Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals Q12.

3. European Commission, 2007. Attitudes of EU citizens to animal welfare.

4. RSPCA 2010 The welfare state – five years of measuring animal welfare 2005-9.

5. Home Office, BIS, Department of Health, 2014. Working to reduce the use of animals in research.

6. eg Ottney Cain A 1991. Pets and the family holistic nursing practice 5 (2) 58-63.

7. Food Standards Agency 22.5.2012. Results of the 2011 survey in Great Britain 12/05/08.

8. RSPCA 2013. The modern solution to the exports of calves: working in black and white.

9. HO, BIS, DoH 2014. Working to reduce the use of animals in scientific research.

10. Hansard, 11 March 2014, col 167.

11. Control of Horses (Wales) Act 2014.

12. Independent Expert Panel (2014) Report on pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire.

13. Qa Research 2012.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS www.rspca.org.uk facebook.com/RSPCA twitter.com/RSPCA_official The RSPCA helps animals in England and Wales. Registered charity no: 219099

The RSPCA only exists with the support of public donations

Promoted by D. Bowles on behalf of the RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS

Photos: Front/back cover Andrew Forsyth, Joe Murphy/RSPCA Photolibrary

Inside: Joe Murphy x 5, Andrew Forsyth x 5, David Bowles/RSPCA Photolibrary

improving the welfare and protection of animals ten...

Documents