THE PET CARE TRUST unveiled its ten-point pet manifesto on 20 April calling for the new government to support responsible pet ownership and high standards of animal welfare.
The manifesto includes the reclassification of veterinary medicines, introducing pets into public institutions such as prisons and the replacement of the pet shop licence with a duty on pet shop owners and managers to demonstrate competence in animal care. The Trust also calls for the next Government to include the Animal Welfare Bill in the next parliamentary session to introduce a general duty of care.
“Whoever is elected should protect pet owners and the pet trade from bureaucratic overzealousness”, said Janet Nunn, Chief Executive of the Pet Care Trust. “The new government must think twice and make sure that good intentions aren’t in fact hampering the delivery of good animal welfare in support industries”.
The Manifesto
1. Make animal medicines more affordable and available to people by re-classification under the draft Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2005.
2. Stop the Health and Safety Executive gold-plating the European Biocidal Products Directive through its insistence that manufacturers conduct prohibitively expensive tests on the active ingredients of biocidal products that have been on the market for many years.
3. Curb the yellow peril: double yellow lines that adorn so many high streets. Give central instruction to local authorities that they must allow a minimum parking time to allow for short shopping stops to load up with bulky or heavy items like straw, hay, cat litter and dog food.
4. Introduce pets into public institutions such as prisons and young offender units to give the animals the care and attention they need, and to bring out the nurturing side of the inmates while excluded from society.
5. Include the Animal Welfare Bill in the next parliamentary session to introduce a general duty of care as soon as possible.
6. Start consulting on secondary animal welfare legislation now, as the Bill will create an expectation of change that won’t be tangible until the secondary law is enacted.
7. Acknowledge that environmental health officers (EHOs) are not the professionals best suited to comment on the welfare of small animals in pet shops and kennels and catteries on behalf of local authorities. Promote instead an annual check by a local vet, arranged and paid for by the business.
8. Replace the pet shop licence with a duty on pet shop owners or managers to demonstrate competence in animal care either by experience or by qualification, backed by refresher training at regular intervals. And introduce a similar duty on kennel and cattery owners or managers to demonstrate competence in animal care.
9. Continue your robust, science-based support for sustainable trade in wildlife, including birds and reptiles, using the most up-to-date, peer reviewed data and maintain the UK’s commitment to the Addis Ababa guidelines on sustainable use already accepted by CBD and to be discussed by CITES.
10. Rescind the approved prosecutor powers granted last summer to RSPCA under the Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 2000 given its opposition to the sale of pets in pet shops.
