Clause 7 - Fighting etc
Animal Welfare Bill
1:00 pm
Ben Bradshaw (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Exeter, Labour)
I do not intend to dwell on the less contentious aspects of the clause, but I shall say a few words about the part that was the subject of most of the debate this morning: the recording of fighting. I listened carefully to what was said in the Committee, and I hope that Members accept that the making of a recording is covered by the provisions on participation in, or presence at, a fight. However, I will reflect, in discussion with others, on whether it would be possible to make changes that would reassure hon. Members that even the private distribution of recordings was covered, bearing in mind the difficulty of proving whether the activity recorded took place in this country.
On the possession of a recording, I outlined to the Committee some of the difficulties of criminalising the mere possession of an image, given that the possession of far more serious images is currently not criminalised. I will reconsider whether it would be possible to tie that possession to an event that had taken place in this country. The difficulty of proving that was why this provision was dropped from the draft Bill.