Animal Welfare Bill

Certainly, my constituents would wish to include them, given the way in which they can be trained. They have expressed concern about that, and I shall come to the issue of horses in circuses in a short while. Last year, I took part in a peaceful protest against the use of wild animals in circuses when a circus visited Laceby in my constituency. Interestingly, it arrived on the 14th anniversary of the night on which four lions escaped from Chipperfield’s circus on a nearby site in Grimsby, mauling a man and terrorising many local residents. My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Ms Smith), who is from the area, probably remembers the incident in which lions marauded through Grimsby. They were subsequently caught. When I took part in that protest, many people who visited the circus were not interested in the animals—they were more interested in the acrobatic displays. However, after the show they were deeply concerned about what they had seen. One of my constituents was reported in my local newspaper, the Grimsby Telegraph, as saying:"““I help with horses and I noticed the horses had muzzles and the zebras appeared to be biting the horses . . . while the llamas seemed to me to be petrified. I thought it was cruel and I won’t be coming again.””" A large body of evidence collected by the Born Free Foundation, Animal Defenders International, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and others shows that a circus environment cannot provide for the needs of such animals. The transportation required and housing arrangements constrain their natural behaviour. The Secretary of State and other hon. Members have said that we were one of the first countries to introduce legislation to protect animals. However, we shall not be the first to introduce legislation to ban performing animals in circuses, because other countries have already done so. If they can do so, the majority of my constituents and I do not see why Britain cannot do so as well. Briefly, on the subject of animal sanctuaries, the right hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Miss Widdecombe) said that people can speak for themselves, but that animals cannot. There is, however, a breed of person who cannot speak for themselves in the Chamber—my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Mr. Cawsey), who is a Whip. I shall be his voice tonight. I was a sponsor of the Animal Sanctuaries (Licensing) Bill, which he introduced in 2001. It would have provided for the licensing and inspection of animal sanctuaries, but he withdrew it when the Government made it clear that the issue would be addressed in the Animal Welfare Bill. I certainly welcome that, but I have a number of concerns. While the draft Bill proposed the licensing of larger sanctuaries and the registration of smaller ones, the Bill before us today no longer includes the licensing requirement. Instead, it proposes that sanctuaries should register with the local authority for a five-year period. Animal welfare organisations and I are concerned about that, as such a period between inspections may not be appropriate. We must undertake work to define sanctuaries, and the new regulations must be put in place urgently. The hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup mentioned problems in defining sanctuaries. What on earth is a sanctuary? If someone takes in a few cats because they like cats and they think that those cats are not being treated properly, are they running a sanctuary? We therefore need to clarify those definitions, and we also need a proper licensing system for sanctuaries. As I said when I intervened on the Secretary of State, the duty of care in the Bill will put more pressure on animal sanctuaries in future, so we should not leave that secondary legislation until a later date. We need to address the issue at an early stage, so that animals that have suffered from cruelty and have been taken into sanctuaries receive proper protection. The sanctuary sector is unregulated, so we should act speedily. Overall the Bill is welcome, and I support it, but I hope that the Government will take into account my concerns about circuses and sanctuaries.