Animal Welfare Bill

I think that it might be helpful to the House if Members do not pronounce the ““o”” in ““Leominster””. For the purposes of this Bill, I will forgive them if they make it rhyme with ““hamster””. I welcome the inclusion of measures to deal with appeals through the Crown Court. They provide an extra legal procedure to check on the actions of inspectors and constables who will save an owner time and expense when they wish to appeal. An inspector or constable will have the power to take a protected animal in distress into his possession, and a magistrates court can then proceed to make arrangements for the animal. The original drafting contained no provisions for the owner to appeal. In that respect, the principle behind amendment No. 27 is admirable. However, I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify a point about subsection (2), which states:"““Nothing may be done under an order under section 20(1) unless—""(a) the period for giving notice of appeal against the order has expired, and""(b) if the order is the subject of an appeal, the appeal has been determined or withdrawn.””" Could not that be interpreted to mean the withholding of specified and important treatment that may be needed?