Charities and farming campaigners have welcomed the government’s animal welfare strategy as an “important first step” to improving the lives of millions of animals.
Caught in a trap: wire snares often catch, maim and kill animals including badgers and even family pets
Under measures announced today, farming with caged hens will be a thing of the past in England, while pig farrowing crates, used to stop sows from rolling on to and crushing their young, will also be banned.
There’s to be an end to puppy farming, the mass commercial breeding of dogs, and an end to trail hunting, which campaigners have regularly highlighted is used as a cover for illegal fox hunting.
The government will also consult on a ban on snare traps.
Snares are wire noose animal traps which cause suffering not only to animals like foxes, that are often their target, but also to other animals like badgers and domestic pets. “Snares cannot discriminate between species and any animal that moves through the noose is a potential victim,” the RSPCA said.
The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, announced today that her department is to consult on phasing out the remaining chicken cages and transitioning to non-cage systems next year.
New welfare strategy: environment minister Emma Reynolds MP
Anthony Field, the head of the campaign group Compassion in World Farming, described the move as “a landmark step forward in protecting farmed animals across Britain”.
He said: “By committing to phase out cages for laying hens and farrowing crates for pigs, over 7million hens and 150,000 pigs will benefit annually.”
The RSPCA’s Thomas Schultz-Jagow said: “We welcome the government’s new animal welfare strategy, which is an important first step towards improving the lives of millions of farmed animals, pets and wildlife.
“People in the UK love animals and they want to see governments leading the way to outlaw cruel practices which cause suffering, and pass laws which give all animals the kindness and respect they deserve.”
The strategy includes measures aimed at improving welfare within the farming sector, as well as for pets and wildlife.
More than 1billion animals are farmed for food in Britain every year. The welfare strategy aims to address the cruel practice of keeping farmed animals in cages and the use of concentrated CO2 in pig slaughter, a method which the RSPCA says “causes significant distress and suffering”.
For the first time, the government proposes consulting on introducing standards for fish slaughter. It also proposes guidance for killing decapods – lobsters, crabs and prawns – including potentially outlawing live boiling.
Dog’s life: extreme breeding, used to produce some pedigree breed characteristics, is being looked at
The RSPCA has been campaigning for more ethical farming methods for more than a decade. Its RSPCA Assured food label sees more than 4,000 farms and businesses assessed every year to check they’re following hundreds of higher welfare standards.
Toby Baker, of the RSPCA, said: “When we visit an RSPCA Assured member farm, the importance of higher welfare farming is clear – we see thriving, healthy animals with space to move, exercise, rest and feed, free from crates and cages. This is what we want for all farmed animals.
“Creating a kinder food system that benefits everyone is not an impossible dream – we know it can be done. Thirty years ago, battery hen farming was common, and while around 20% of hens are still kept in cramped cages, eight out of 10 eggs produced today are from cage-free birds. That just shows what can be achieved when government, farmers and welfare experts work together.”
Missing from the strategy announced today is any mandatory production labelling. In a government consultation last year, 99% supported labels on their food to show how an animal had been reared.
The strategy’s measures to improve pet welfare include tightening up dog breeding regulations. The government proposes that all dog breeders are registered, making breeders more accountable for the welfare of the animals in their care.
The government also announced measures to license pet rescue and rehoming centres.
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