Animal Welfare Bill

My Lords, I am on the side of the goldfish. Our tradition of giving goldfish as prizes at funfairs will and should continue. We are doing nothing in the Bill to abolish it. We are on the side of the funfairs giving goldfish as prizes, to be looked after well—in bigger bags, maybe. The containers are much better now than they were in the past. The leaflet is crucial; giving it with the prize is absolutely fundamental. It is important that the welfare of the goldfish is taken into account. It is not a question of do what you like. I do not think the Showmen’s Guild would support any of its members promoting anti-welfare practices by offering unsuitable containers and not giving good advice to the youngsters who win the prizes. Long may that continue. There is a technical difficulty. If the amendment were accepted, it would mean double standards. They would be lower in funfairs than in pet shops. But there is no issue as long as the welfare of the goldfish is considered. No offence will be committed, so the tradition can continue, and there is nothing in the Bill knocking that out. I do not see it as a problem, but I am grateful to my noble friends for raising the issue today and in Grand Committee. As I told my noble friend Lord Bilston the other day, officials in my private office in Defra still talk about the debate we had in Grand Committee. They remember the day with joy. I hope that that will be acceptable to my noble friends. This issue and Amendments Nos. 11 and 12 have already been debated. Amendment No. 11 would remove subsection (5)(a), which covers competitions that are not held face-to-face but which are in magazines, such as horse magazines, or over the internet. These competitions are often aimed at a section of the public who already have some knowledge of the animal that they are attempting to win and are therefore likely to prove responsible owners. Subsection (5)(a) makes provision for those types of competitions. We believe that the amendment would make their legality uncertain and could effectively prohibit them, which we are not in favour of doing. We are not aware of any welfare problems with this type of competition. One that we have seen in a popular horse magazine promoted welfare as it tested a child’s knowledge of horse matters, including horse care. Subsection (5)(b) ensures that the person offering the magazine prize has reasonable cause to believe that a child under 16 who enters the competition has sought agreement from their parent or guardian. This safeguard is present in existing magazine competitions in that the application requires parental endorsement. The effect of the amendment would leave subsection (5)(b) as a stand-alone provision that could, for example, be applied to a stallholder at a funfair. In many cases, it would be totally unreasonable for the stallholder offering fish as a prize to know whether or not the parent or guardian is content for the child to win the goldfish. It would therefore be a backdoor method of trying to impose a total ban on giving pets as prizes. That is why some noble Lords thought that there was an attempt by the original promoters of the amendment to be anti-goldfish. On Amendment No. 12, the purpose of subsection (6) is to allow a prize to be offered in a family context; given, for example, by one family member to another as a reward or prize. The term ““family”” may refer to a relative but each situation can be different depending on individual circumstances. It could also be taken to include a partner of a child’s parent. We have not restricted ourselves in defining ““family””, as this term will need to cover a range of situations. It most cases, it will be obvious where the term should be applied. There is no justification for the state to interfere in harmless arrangements between family members, especially where the person held legally responsible for the care of the animal on the child’s behalf will, in most cases, be aware of the arrangements and have to have taken responsibility for ensuring that the welfare needs of the animals will be met. It is not a free for all just because it is a family. That is crucial. The welfare needs of the animal must still be met.