Animal Welfare Bill

On the second argument put forward by the noble Baroness in support of her amendment, she spoke of people becoming too old or frail to look after their animals. I had just such an instance with a goat. My first goat was bought in the market and had been quite severely neglected because its owner, a veteran of the Korean War, suddenly developed what today we would call post-traumatic stress disorder and became incapable of looking after the animal. It is important to distinguish between someone who is willing to allow an animal be sold on or given away and one who stubbornly refuses to do so and maintains an animal in a poor condition. That needs to be taken into consideration.