Animal Welfare

The Animal Welfare Act (England and Wales) and Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act places a Duty of Care on all those who are involved in the ownership or handling of animals to protect the animals’ welfare. Failure to do so is now a criminal offence. Under the old legislation, a prosecution could only be brought after cruelty had already occurred.

The Scottish Act includes a provision that failing to meet the requirements of a Care Notice (a document issued to demonstrate exactly what owners should do to improve the care of the equine) is a criminal offence. In England these notices (called Improvement Notices) are considered to be guidelines. They cannot be used in the same way as Scottish Care Notices, but a failure of the Duty of Care can be used in a course case.

The work of the ILPH Field Officers will not change as a result of these Acts, although the provision of Codes of Practice may make it easier to provide formal written advice and for action to be taken at a far earlier stage.

The Act will make it easier for the authorities to prosecute and it tightens up the conditions that apply when a person is banned by the courts from owning or looking after animals.

At the present time the Government has not granted any additional funding to enforce the Act, therefore the ILPH will continue to rely upon the kind donations of our supporters to ensure that we can continue to undertake our work in the field.

To download our Q&A on Animal Welfare Legislation, click here.