THE Pet Care Trust, the national charity promoting responsible pet ownership, has welcomed the publication of the Animal Welfare Bill for England and Wales.

The Bill will consolidate a century of animal welfare legislation, providing a one stop shop for pet owners. It will introduct for the first time a duty of care, ensuring pet owners are legally obliged to look after their pets, rather than merely banned from doing harm.

“For the vast majority of Britain’s 28 million pet owners, who already take excellent care of the animals they love, this legislation won’t make any difference”, said Janet Nunn, Chief Executive of the Trust.

“But in the small number of exceptional cases where harm is being caused by negligent owners, this is a welcome step to enable enforcement offers to take action before it’s too late”.

The Trust also:

• Welcomed the decision to incrase from 12 to 16 the minimum age at which a child may buy an animal. Pet shops who are members of the Trust do not sell pets to the under-16s, and this is a measure the Trust has long campaigned for.

• Welcomed the proposal under secondary legislation to license pet shops, boarding kennels and catteries for up to three years on a risk managed basis. “For too long local authorities have relied on a ‘one size fits all’ approach to licensing inspections”, said Ms Nunn. “Basing inspections on a sensible risk assessment will be much more effective and brings the licensing regime into the 21st century”.

• Welcomed the proposal under secondary legislation to license commercial pet fairs, and the decision not to license private/ members-only events run by hobbyists and exhibition shows where there is no commercial trading. “When like-minded enthusiasts with a shared interest and love of their pets come together, they can only improve animal welfare standards”, said Ms Nunn.
• Called for local authorities only to recognise national qualifications such as the City & Guilds

7760 Pet Store Management when licensing pet shops. “Until the Model Licence Conditions are adopted across the country, some local authorities will continue to accept Mickey-Mouse qualifications”, said Ms Nunn.

• Called for boarding kennel and cattery owners to have to prove competency, as now happens with pet shops, either through experience or relevant qualification. “This is a missed opportunity to raise the bar”, said Ms Nunn.

• Called for the Government to ban home boarding for dogs under secondary legislation. “The proposed secondary legislation will ban home boarding for cats, but not dogs”, said Ms Nunn. “We consider the animal health and welfare risks involved in commercial home boarding of dogs to be unacceptable”.