Clause 8 - Duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare

Part of Animal Welfare Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 1:15 pm on 19 January 2006.

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Photo of Bill Wiggin Bill Wiggin Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) 1:15, 19 January 2006

I suspect that we are going to receive a similar answer on these amendments. Amendment No. 90 will serve to clarify the ambiguity that the current wording presents. The term “suitable environment” is problematic because the Bill does not specify what constitutes a suitable environment. Although I understand that clause 10 makes provision for establishing regulations, we need to know what, in the Bill, the term is intended to mean. The dictionary defines an environment as

“the objects or the region surrounding anything” and

“the conditions under which any person or thing lives or is developed; the sum-total of influences which modify and determine the development of life or character”.

That is quite ambiguous, too, and could present the judiciary with a problem in interpreting the law. We would all like to ensure that animals have comfortable surroundings. However, the only suitable environment for some animals would be their natural habitat. The Minister talked about hamsters.