Exotic Pets And Welfare Labelling Are Top Priorities For New Government

At the annual British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) Discussion Forum (Monday 17th May) delegates voted for the most important animal welfare priorities, which the new Defra ministerial team should focus on. Delegates were asked ‘What would you ask the new Defra Minister?’ and the top three welfare issues chosen were:

1. exotic pets – the lack of understanding about their care needs, the abandonment of fashionable pets, and the disease risk of importing exotics to the UK,
2. welfare education and labelling information – the need for impartial expert information for consumers on farm animal welfare, as well as food and farming education in schools
3. welfare surveillance and prioritisation – the need for a welfare surveillance system that will allow the Government to better prioritise welfare issues.

In total, nine ideas were presented to the audience (made up of veterinary surgeons, representatives of the major animal welfare organisations in the UK, industry representatives, civil servants from a number of Government bodies, and academics) by the three speakers:

• Christopher Wathes, Chair of FAWC (the Farm Animal Welfare Council)
• James Kirkwood, Deputy Chair of CAWC (the Companion Animal Welfare Council)
• Peter Jinman, Chair of the BVA’s Ethics and Welfare Group (EWG)

Each speaker presented his three ideas in six minutes, followed by an audience vote for the most important issue per speaker (full results below). The speakers were then given a further 5 minutes on their most important issue, followed by a final vote. The result of the final vote was incredibly close:

• exotic pets 43%
• impartial information for consumers 41%
• welfare surveillance system 16%

Commenting, Professor Bill Reilly, President of the British Veterinary Association and Trustee of the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation, said: “The BVA AWF Discussion Forum is one of the most important events in the animal welfare calendar and this year the level of debate and discussion has been exceptional. “Animal welfare is of enormous interest to parliamentarians, but with limited resources we must prioritise the messages that we take to politicians. We therefore set ourselves a significant challenge to choose the most pressing animal welfare issues facing the new Government, and exotic pets and the need for better welfare education and information were the clear winners. “On exotic pets we heard about the significant disease risk posed by importing exotic animals to the UK, the deep concerns of the veterinary profession that fashionable exotic pets are soon abandoned, and the worry that pet owners don’t educate themselves well enough about the animals’ needs. “On consumer information we heard that there is currently a lack of impartial information available to consumers to make an informed choice on the welfare of production animals used in the products on sale. By increasing the education of the public and the information available at the point of sale we could have a positive impact on the welfare of millions of farm animals. “The BVA’s Ethics and Welfare Group will now consider how best we can take forward these hugely significant welfare issues in the next Parliament and beyond.”

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