Animal Welfare Bill

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman’s concern, but I repeat that this is the Animal Welfare Bill, which does not cover the illegal trade in endangered species. Government amendment No. 61 fulfils a commitment that I made in Committee. The Government always intended that the concept of suffering, wherever it occurs in the Bill, should include both mental and physical suffering. We thought that point self-evident, so we did not include a definition in the Bill, but because of the unease expressed in Standing Committee, I agreed to table an amendment to put the meaning of the concept beyond doubt. Government amendment No. 61 defines suffering clearly, wherever it is mentioned in the Bill. In Committee, the hon. Member for Leominster (Bill Wiggin) drew our attention to the point that an inspector or constable could feasibly exercise his powers under clause 16 without the person responsible for the animal in question being aware of it, and we agree that that point requires rectification. That is why we tabled Government amendment No. 78, which requires an inspector or constable to notify a person responsible for the animal in question as soon as reasonably practicable. On new clause 6, I made it clear in Committee that we have not replicated the specific offence of abandonment, because it would be unnecessary. Abandonment is merely one way in which either the welfare offences or the cruelty offences can be committed. The hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) has asked why we have made poisoning, mutilation and fighting special offences, but not abandonment. Those three offences do not necessarily involve suffering, which is why they are included separately. In Committee, we discussed administering heroin to a dog, mutilating an animal under anaesthetic and betting on an animal fight, all of which are offences. I also have concerns about the definition of abandonment in new clause 6, which we believe would risk catching the release of game birds or fish into a stream or pond or the release of animals on to common land. I am sure that Conservative Members do not want to prevent those activities.