World Horse Welfare attend House of Commons animal welfare roundtable discussion

At a well-attended Roundtable Discussion at the House of Commons on Tuesday 28th March, organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare and chaired by the Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, Members of Parliament and the House of Lords, Local Authorities, the Police, animal welfare organisations and others – including World Horse Welfare – joined together to discuss how to improve the current system of enforcing animal welfare law, including licensing of activities involving animals. 

Legislation can do little to improve welfare for animals, including dogs and horses, without effective enforcement. Whilst there are some excellent examples of positive results for animal welfare, all those present agreed it is not always being protected in the most efficient or effective way.

Representatives from World Horse Welfare, RSPCA, British Horse Society, Dogs Trust, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, National Equine Welfare Council, the police, vets, City of London, other local authorities and others met to discuss APGAW’s report Improving the Effectiveness of Animal Welfare Enforcement which identified concerns with the current enforcement system for animal welfare and suggested that a new model was needed.  

The Rt Hon Caroline Nokes, MP and chair of the roundtable said:

Marisa Heath, Policy Advisor for APGAW and author of the report also pointed out that most animal welfare legislation is dealt with by local authorities but that it falls across different departments. She said:

She went on to call on the UK Government to make it a legal requirement for local authorities to use a Dedicated Animal Welfare Officers (DAWO). Acknowledging that many authorities are too small to be able to warrant this, she argued that these dedicated officers should be shared regionally, possibly employed by one authority and contracted out to others in the region.

Marisa said:

An example of this cross-authority sharing was given by Rob Quest MBE of the City of London and Local Government Animal Welfare Group, with a similar model which has been used for decades to bring all the London boroughs together. Rob said:

Roly Owers, Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, gave a view from the ground, saying:

Roly also pointed out that we are missing so much valuable intelligence from the ground as the public simply don’t know who to report welfare concerns to, as there is no single point of contact. Roly also referred to the link between supporting human health and welfare and animal welfare, calling for collaborations between the various departments and organisations. He highlighted that so often by supporting people, it allows them to better care for their animals appropriately and so prevent welfare problems. 

After the presentations, the group discussion was wide ranging, covering the implications of lack of enforcement on other criminal activities and the non-compliant movements of animals across borders, raising the very real threat of diseases coming into the country. Examples of shared systems resembling the proposed shared hub system were described and shown to be working far more effectively and efficiently. One such shared model was described from Staffordshire where it is being used successfully for farmed animals, and it was pointed out how this could be readily adapted to cover companion animals. Discussions also touched upon puppy farming, licencing of animal premises and the need for consistent, high-quality training for animal welfare officers.

The APGAW working group on enforcement will be using the information discussed to pull together a more detailed plan for the way forward, but it is clear that the system needs to change urgently and that this must be a commitment not just for the present UK Government but for all political parties coming into the General Election next year.