Animal welfare: a guide for political animals
In IFAW’s “Manifesto for Animal Welfare”, we set out our vision of the responsibilities and challenges that face the next UK Government on the marine environment, trade in wildlife and animal welfare legislation. We hope that candidates from all political parties will carefully consider and support our recommendations.
Real progress has been made on animal welfare since the 2001 general election, with strong cross party support for new proposed legislation on animal welfare and the marine environment. We have also achieved the long awaited ban on the cruel sport of hunting with dogs in Scotland, England and Wales. Yet we have far more to achieve to afford lasting protection to animals and to the environment in the UK and around the world.
IFAW seeks 14 key commitments from Government:
Legislation
1. Enact, as a priority, an Animal Welfare Bill to establish a duty of care to captive animals
2. Enact a Marine Bill in the next parliament to enhance protection for marine wildlife
3. Ensure UK laws do not provide a market for seal products that could sustain cruel and unnecessary commercial seal hunts
Enforcement and resources
4. Prioritise implementation of powers already available under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, to enforce stricter sentences for those convicted of trading in endangered species
5. Enforce the EU Regulation on Bycatch and monitor both dolphin and porpoise bycatch and the efficacy of acoustic ‘pingers’ by placing mandatory observers on fishing vessels, regardless of their size, for all fisheries that pose a threat to dolphins and porpoises
6. Enforce the Hunting Act 2004
7. Develop and implement an action plan to reduce illegal wildlife trade over the Internet
8. Allocate significantly more resources to Defra, Customs, police, intelligence services and local authorities to improve wildlife crime prevention and detection in the UK
Diplomacy
9. Support initiatives that promote ecological sustainability, based on the Precautionary Principle, at international fora such as CITES, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and during its G8 and EU Presidencies
10. Counteract pressure from Japan to maintain and increase whaling activities at the International Whaling Commission (IWC)
11. Seek an end to cruel and unnecessary commercial seal hunts in Canada, Norway, Greenland and Russia
12. Oppose proposals to reopen a legal trade in ivory, and support conservation measures and improved enforcement against poaching
13. Strengthen the Environment Policy Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of International Development
Research
14. Research and develop long-term solutions to reduce the accidental bycatch of dolphins and porpoises in fishing nets in UK waters
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