Animal Welfare Bill

Some may, but others would like a ban on all such gatherings. The Government are not convinced that that is justified, but we think that strict licensing requirements are the best way forward. My hon. Friend made a point about the repeal or otherwise of the Pet Animals Act 1951. It is our intention to repeal section 2 of the Act, as amended, and to clarify its provisions with respect to pet fairs. I apologise that the final version of the Bill includes a power to repeal section 1 but has inadvertently omitted the repeal of section 2. We intend to address that through Government amendment at the appropriate stage. We also want to ensure good provision of welfare for all racing greyhounds, whether they race under the National Greyhound Club racing rules or at independent tracks. We believe that that can be achieved through good regulation and, as several hon. Members have said, considerable progress has been made. However, we do not rule out regulation if we become convinced that self-regulation will not be effective. We should not forget that greyhounds, and all the other animals about which Members have expressed concern, will be immediately subject to the welfare provisions when the Bill is passed. The welfare of animals will not have to wait until the secondary legislation is made: animals will benefit immediately from the introduction of the welfare offence. Several hon. Members raised concerns about snares, and I have to disappoint my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), who called for a complete ban. The Government are not convinced that that is justified at this stage. Gamekeepers and wildlife managers have a legitimate use for snares and if we were to ban them, other methods that are more cruel, more dangerous and less easy to control would be used. That is not a sensible way forward. The Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Jim Knight), recently published a new code of conduct on snares which is a big step forward. The Bill will, of course, introduce a duty of care for animals trapped in a snare. It will be a requirement that animals trapped in snares will be despatched quickly and humanely or released. I hope that that goes some way to reassure my hon. Friend. The issue of primates as pets is not dealt with directly in the Bill, although the remarks I made about circuses apply equally to primates. The courts, the RSPCA and others could well make the argument that it is not possible to meet the welfare needs of a primate in certain conditions. In fact, primates are really only suitable for imports by zoos, scientific institutions or specialist keepers. My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary, who is responsible for wildlife imports, has recently gone out to public consultation on proposals to prohibit the keeping of certain CITES-listed species. That is essentially a conservation measure, but the Government are considering whether it would be appropriate to use those powers to restrict the keeping of primates as pets. Several hon. Members raised the issue of pheasants, game rearing in general and the use of battery cages for pheasants. We share people’s concern. It does seem anomalous that battery cages for chickens have been banned and are being phased out in the European Union but we still have similar devices for the rearing of pheasants. It is certainly an issue that we will address through codes of conduct and regulation in due course.