Animal Welfare Bill

The first and most obvious point is that a person would have to be pretty strange to have a pet slug. I do not think that the duty of care applies. Nor is there a great deal of scientific evidence to suggest that slugs feel pain in the same way as other creatures. However, my hon. Friend makes his point in his own way. For most people, the new duty of care will have no impact. The vast majority of people who care for animals find it second nature to look after them properly. However, it is a sad fact that much legislation is determined by the actions or failures of a minority. The evidence provided by the RSPCA suggests that a significant number of animals suffer every year because the law is either inadequate or flouted. Clause 8 represents a major step towards ending abuse and neglect. Indeed, the RSPCA goes further and says that it is"““confident that this new offence alone will have an historic impact on animal welfare.””" We must indeed hope that it is right. We also welcome the updating of the enforcement and sentencing provisions that will apply to animal welfare offences. Concerns have been raised that in practical terms the effect of the Home Office’s custody plus arrangements will water those down. I hope that the Government look carefully at those suggestions. In addition, I hope that they give further thought to the recommendation of the EFRA Committee that greater maximum sentences should be available to the courts in particularly serious cases of abuse. The Bill also proposes to close a significant loophole whereby people who are subject to disqualification orders flout them by pretending that custody of their animals has passed to somebody else. We very much welcome the closing of that loophole. Given the frustration that has often been expressed about the way in which the courts frequently do not use the existing powers available to them—the Environmental Audit Committee came across that in its inquiry into wildlife crime not long ago—I am particularly pleased that the courts will now be required to give reasons for not issuing a disqualification order in the event of someone being found guilty of a cruelty offence. All of that, and more, we can agree on. It will not surprise the Secretary of State to learn that we do have some concerns about a number of measures that will be introduced under the legislation which are not in the Bill. I am talking about the proposed codes of practice and the regulations that are to be introduced by statutory instrument. Rarely can a regulatory impact assessment have contained more information about the Government’s intentions than the Bill itself or the explanatory notes. Thank goodness for the regulatory impact assessment—but it would have been much better if the proposed codes of conduct and regulations had been produced in time, if only in draft form, so that their impact could be considered in the context of the Bill.