England Unveils Comprehensive Animal Welfare Strategy with New Protections and Reforms
England has launched an ambitious new animal welfare strategy aimed at improving the wellbeing of wildlife, farm animals, and pets across the country. The plan highlights the scale of animal farming in England, where over 1 billion chickens and around 8 million turkeys are reared each year, many turkeys being slaughtered before Christmas.
The strategy addresses concerns about pet welfare during winter, a peak season for abandonments, with charities warning about already high numbers of dogs and cats being dumped. To tackle this, pledges include a renters' rights bill to facilitate keeping pets and calls for stronger enforcement and inspections to ensure compliance.
Key farm animal welfare reforms in the strategy include ending the use of cages for laying hens, banning cramped farrowing crates for pigs, and replacing carbon dioxide stunning with less distressing methods. New regulations for farmed fish are also promised.
England is overdue in implementing a close season for breeding hares, a protection already enforced in other European countries that ban killing hares during the breeding period. The strategy references Victorian-era precedents in advocating for this protection.
Further commitments include banning snare traps and trail hunting, the latter a practice already prohibited in Scotland. The proposed bans face debate in England and potential opposition from countryside groups.
The government has reversed its inheritance tax policy, now applying the threshold to farms worth £2.5 million instead of £1 million, affecting farm estates. The strategy also pledges to use trade policy to protect farmers from competition with lower-welfare imports.
Additional measures for pets feature a new dog breeder registration scheme and a review of international rescue operations. Notably, Wales banned electric shock collars for cats and dogs in 2010.
The strategy acknowledges animals as sentient beings and notes that many measures require consultations and may take years to implement. Increased enforcement and inspection capacity will be crucial to realizing the strategy's goals.
