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| Animal Welfare Act 2006; Duty of Care | |
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| Topic Started: 11 Oct 2007, 10:02 PM (271 Views) | |
| bruni | 11 Oct 2007, 10:02 PM Post #1 |
Madly in love with Nigel
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The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 came into force in October 2006 & came into force on the 27th March 2007 in Wales and the 6th April 2007 in England. The legislation does not apply to Northern Ireland – they are consulting on their own version. Duty of Care: The Acts introduce a new idea – the ‘duty of care’, dog owners are now legally obliged to ensure the welfare of dogs in their care. Law enforcement agencies now have the power to take action to prevent animal suffering before it happens. An offence is committed if dog owners don’t take such steps, as are reasonable in all the circumstances, to ensure that the needs of an animal, for which you are responsible, are met. The owner, or person looking after a dog, must make sure that their dog has the following; A suitable environment (where the dog lives) A suitable diet (including water) Is able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns Is protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease Is housed with, or apart from, other animals. As someone responsible for a dog, who has failed this duty of care, you could receive an ‘Improvement Notice’ detailing what needs to be done within a specified time frame; this would be as an alternative to prosecution. The new law also increases to 16 the minimum age at which a person can buy an animal. The new law bans tail docking; there is an exemption for working dogs-which is defined in the Act. Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare needs, may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison. The Act has been designed to allow for secondary legislation and codes of practice to be brought in at later dates, following consultation. This legislation replaces the Protection of Animals Act 1911. Unnecessary suffering is defined in Section 4(3) of the new Act, it includes when suffering could have reasonably been avoided or reduced. You can commit an offence if you cause unnecessary suffering by an act (or failure to act) or if you permit someone else to. |
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Sharon, Kai, Zara, Damia & Kassie bruni@littlegsd.com | |
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7:05 PM Nov 25
