Clause 59 - Repeals
Animal Welfare Bill
1:30 pm
Bill Wiggin (Shadow Minister (Agriculture & Fisheries), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Leominster, Conservative)
The amendments seek to tidy up the Bill and extend welfare provisions to animals awaiting slaughter. They also probe the Government to indicate whether they have been seeking other forms of animal control in abattoirs. Schedule 3, paragraph 11 of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 permits electric shocks of less than two seconds to animals’ hindquarters. Schedule 4, paragraph 8(c) exempts the use of such shocks from being criminalised.
Although I appreciate the need to control animals in abattoirs, I have been made aware that the persistent and excessive use of electric shocks can be harmful to the animal beyond the purposes for which the shock was administered. Moreover, when an animal in a slaughterhouse is stunned or incapacitated, that could be argued to fall within the welfare provisions of the Bill. The amendment is drafted with the intention of erring on the side of caution. Will the Minister state the Government’s position?