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Gove: Brexit won't weaken welfare rules which treat animals as sentient beings

Michael Gove has sought to assuage concerns over a recent parliamentary vote against transferring EU rules on animal welfare into British law
Michael Gove has sought to assuage concerns over a recent parliamentary vote against transferring EU rules on animal welfare into British law Michael Gove has sought to assuage concerns over a recent parliamentary vote against transferring EU rules on animal welfare into British law

BREXIT will not weaken welfare rules which treat animals as sentient beings, the government has insisted.

Environment secretary Michael Gove sought to assuage concerns over a recent parliamentary vote against transferring EU rules on animal welfare into British law, saying it was "not a vote against the idea that animals are sentient and feel pain".

The amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which would have transferred the EU protocol on animal sentience, so that animals are still recognised as sentient beings under domestic law, was voted down last week.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas, who tabled the amendment, had raised concerns that the current regulations risked dropping out of UK law by accident once Britain leaves the European Union.

In a written ministerial statement, Mr Gove said the Withdrawal Bill was not the right place to address the issue and the vote was a "rejection of a faulty amendment" that would not have achieved its aim of providing appropriate protection.

But the Government will ensure that necessary changes to UK law as the country leaves the European Union are made in "a rigorous and comprehensive way to ensure animal sentience is recognised".

The Government's policies are driven by the recognition that animals are sentient beings and "we are acting energetically to reduce the risk of harm to animals, whether on farms or in the wild", he said.

He also said the EU laws on animal sentience were not delivering the wanted progress on welfare, and prevented action on issues such as cracking down on puppy smuggling and banning the import of young dogs, or restricting live export of animals for slaughter.

"Leaving the EU gives us the chance to do much better" in these areas, he said.

Humane Society International UK director Claire Bass welcomed the reassurance that the Government would formally recognise animal sentience in UK law post-Brexit and strengthen rules to protect animals in the UK.

"Acknowledging that animals have the capacity to suffer and feel pain is absolutely fundamental to protecting them from harm, and we need a binding imperative enshrined in UK law that will hold government to account, ensuring that animal welfare is fully taken into account in all UK law and policy-making.

"We can't afford for this guiding principle to be thrown out with the Brussels bathwater and so look forward to hearing the Government's legislative plans in the very near future."

But Ms Lucas said the Government's refusal to accept the amendment was "simply absurd" and said the continued insistence that sentience was covered in Animal Welfare legislation was wrong.

"Britain has been forward-thinking animal welfare over the years, which is why ditching this provision would be such a backwards step.

"The UK Government led on introducing this EU protocol in the first place, and it's only an obsession with refusing changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill that's stopping ministers adopting this amendment now," she said.

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British Veterinary Association senior vice president Gudrun Ravetz said: "While we are encouraged by Michael Gove's statement that the government intends to ensure legislative change to recognise sentience, we are concerned that there is no indication of when or how this will happen."

She said there was a need for clarity on how legislation would capture the obligation the EU regulation puts on national governments to pay full regard to animal welfare in formulating and implementing policy in the areas it covers.

"Under the UK's Animal Welfare Acts, accountability for the treatment of an animal, quite rightly, focuses on the owner or those who are responsible for that animal's condition, but not on the state.

"Not including this provision would be a step backwards once we leave the EU," she added.

The RSPCA also raised concerns that there was no mechanism to hold the Government to account when formulating new legislation and assessing its impact on animal welfare.

The animal welfare charity also said the UK's Animal Welfare Act 2006 gave humans a responsibility to look after animals under their control, it does not apply to wildlife or animals used in research.

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