Animal Welfare
Wednesday July 30th 2008, Kingsway Hall Hotel - London, 09:00 - 16:00
Working in Partnership to Deliver an Effective Animal Welfare Strategy
“The Animal Welfare Delivery Strategy reinforces our commitment to high animal welfare standards. Legislation is already in place and the strategy sets out in more detail the goals we are seeking to achieve...The strategy places an increased emphasis on sharing responsibility for good animal welfare. It highlights the importance of innovative delivery mechanisms which build on the achievements already made through legislation and stakeholder led initiatives...We look forward to working closely with stakeholders to achieve the goals set out in the strategy.”
The Rt Hon the Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food and Farming and Animal Health, 2 October 2007
Overview
Following the outbreak of BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) in the 1990s and the recent stories that have appeared in the national press regarding the transportation of live, farm animals and the mistreatment of family pets the health and welfare of animals remain high on the political agenda.
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 that came in to force in England in April 2007, is a response to the public’s concern regarding animal health and welfare as well as food production issues. For the very first time, the Act places a duty of care on owners and keepers of both farmed and non-farmed, domesticated, vertebrate animals making them legally responsible for all aspects of the health and welfare of their animals, and consequently, subject to a number of sanctions, including imprisonment, for failing to carry out their duty of care.
The Animal Health and Welfare Delivery Strategy (AWDS), published in October 2007, will implement policies outlined in the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain published in 2004. This strategy sets-out a vision for animal health and welfare in Britain for the next ten years.
Following the Eves Review recommendations, the AWDS underlines the need for joint partnership working between the government, local and statutory regulatory authorities and all interested groups and bodies to ensure there are clear lines of communication, accountability and responsibility to ensure the effective implementation of animal health and welfare best-practice in England. This process will be monitored by an independent advisory group known as the England Implementation Group (EIG).
Objectives
While the government engages in further extensive consultation to draw up an action plan, delegates at this event will have the opportunity to discuss the five objectives of the AWDS among other key issues:
- How will the Animal Health and Welfare Delivery Strategy (AWDS) minimise the environmental effects and economic consequences of an outbreak of a notifiable disease?;
- How will the AWDS enable partners to effectively monitor whether internationally accepted animal welfare standards - Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations - are effectively enforced across the European Union?;
- To what degree will the AWDS improve bio-security and emergency preparedness to cope with mass casualties or fatalities caused by avian ‘flu and other diseases?;
- How will joint partnership working help to ensure that those who care for or have contact with animals have the appropriate knowledge and skill set to do so? And how do you devise and deliver an information and structured training programme to those who need it?;
- Which bodies will be responsible for funding, managing and ensuring that customer information campaigns on meat by-products and food health issues are based on sound, current scientific research?;
- Which of the parties in a partnership will have lead or have responsibility for ensuring that all those who exercise a duty of care comply with welfare rules?
| 09:15 | Registration, Coffee and Networking |
| 10:00 | Chairs Welcome Address Professor Richard Bennett, Member of the England Implementation Group (of the Animal Health and Welfare Strategy) and Member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council |
| 10:10 | Panel Session 1 - Working in Partnership to Deliver an Effective Animal Welfare Strategy Mike Segal, Director of Food and Farming, Defra |
| 10:30 | Questions and Answers Session 1 |
| 10:50 | Coffee Break and Networking |
| 11:15 | Panel Session 2 - Implementing a Successful Animal Welfare Strategy Nigel Durnford, Principal Animal Health and Welfare Inspector, Trading Standards, Gloucestershire County Council and, Member, English Implementation Group |
| 12:20 | Questions and Answers Session 2 |
| 13:00 | Lunch, Coffee and Networking |
| 14:15 | Panel Session 3 - From Theory to Practice: Partnership Working in Action Catherine McLaughlin, Vet and Animal Health Adviser, National Farmers Union (NFU) |
| 15:15 | Questions and Answers Session 3 |
| 16:00 | Chair’s Summary and Conclusions |
Audience
Delegates will be drawn from central and local government, executive agencies, police, regulatory authorities, environmental health groups, universities, trade unions, research establishments, agricultural and veterinarian colleges, schools, animal health and welfare charities, organisations and bodies, consultants, leisure organisations, all those involved in the health and welfare of animals; local & central government, NHS, emergency planners, religious, community and youth groups, pharmaceutical organisations.