Animal Welfare Bill

moved Amendment No. 39:"After Clause 8, insert the following new clause—" ““PHEASANTS AND PARTRIDGES (1)   The person responsible for an animal to which this section applies commits an offence if the animal is kept otherwise than in accordance with this section. (2)   An enclosure in which any pheasant is kept for the purpose of producing eggs must be of a kind which provides a minimum of one square metre of floor surface area per bird. (3)   Pheasants shall only be kept in a laying pen described in subsection (2) for up to a maximum of six months in any one year. (4)   After the laying period, pheasants which are not released into the wild must be moved to a separate enclosure which provides a minimum floor surface area of two square metres per bird. (5)   An enclosure in which any partridge is kept for the purpose of producing eggs must— (a)   be of a kind traditionally used for the keeping of partridges (commonly known as a partridge box), and (b)   provide a floor surface area of no less than 0.55 square metres per bird. (6)   Partridges shall only be kept in a box as described in subsection (5) for a maximum of six months in any one year. (7)   After the laying period, partridges which are not released into the wild must be moved to a separate enclosure which provides a minimum floor surface area of one square metre per bird.”” The noble Baroness said: Amendment No. 39 relates to the ““prevention of harm”” section of the Bill and relates to something that is happening in the game-shooting industry. In moving this amendment, I stress the importance of game shooting to rural areas in economic and conservation terms: in farm diversification, the encouragement of wildlife and making good economic use of field margins, small copses and so on. I recognise the importance of the game-shooting industry, and this is a small part of what is happening within it. This matter has been brought to my attention by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, which has a wide membership within this industry. The amendment is designed to address a recent but serious abuse that has crept into the game-shooting industry. It is, after all, an industry that began with the shooting of wild birds and there was never an intention, until extremely recently, that it would become akin to factory farming, using a battery system to rear the next generation of birds. My amendment seeks to provide standards for the housing of laying pheasants and partridges which are kept for egg production. Few premises would be caught by the amendment because most people in the industry do not use anything that could be called ““battery cages”” for laying. But where they are used, up to nine female birds could be confined in a small area. The cramped conditions are likely to cause stress in the birds and they prevent the birds from exhibiting their natural behaviour patterns. That is one of the five freedoms that the Bill seeks to promote. They can also lead to all kinds of abhorrent behaviour such as pecking and, in extreme cases, even cannibalism. Feather loss and illness are frequent in battery cages and they have a higher mortality rate. Those are problems which we came across in battery cages used for laying chickens. One of the big success stories of recent years is that in the demand for free-range eggs, battery chickens, through market forces, are being phased out. It would therefore be unfortunate if in another part of the industry they were being phased in. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation has come out strongly against the use of battery cages. Its council resolution of March 2005 states that,"““Battery-type cage laying systems for pheasants and partridges are incompatible with the values of BASC and the future of game shooting””." The association then makes a number of points about what the game-shooting industry should be about and what its members strongly feel. It is most concerned that the use of battery cages could bring the industry into disrepute, which would be most unfortunate. Anticipating the Minister’s reply, he might say that a further study is needed to examine exactly what size of cage is reasonable for a pheasant or a partridge, given the five freedoms that we have discussed. However, I am looking for a statement from him that a battery system is not acceptable. I beg to move.