Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for Great Britain
Chapter 6: Understanding and accepting roles and responsibilities
"Keeping animals is a privilege, not a right." Stakeholder comment during consultation meeting |
6.1 Animal owners
All owners are responsible for the health and welfare of the animals in their care and need to understand and provide for their physical and welfare needs. They need to consider whether they have the means, skills and knowledge to accept the duty of care that being an animal owner entails. They should be able to recognise the signs of illness or disease and should know which diseases are notifiable and have to be reported to Government. All animal owners have a responsibility to be vigilant, report any suspicion of disease and maintain good disease prevention and control (biosecurity) practices, including compliance with regulations.
Animal owners have a responsibility to
maintain healthy animals;
maintain appropriate levels of animal welfare through compliance with welfare codes;
prevent and control endemic diseases;
recognise symptoms of any notifiable disease that affects their animal(s) and report the appearance of such symptoms;
ensure their skills and competence levels are appropriate; and
employ private veterinarians as necessary.
Most animal owners will recognise the above responsibilities and want to play their part in protecting their animals and their businesses. The challenge for them is to consider carefully with their veterinary advisers how this can best be done. If animal owners for any reason cannot provide basic levels of care for their animals, then they need to consider carefully whether they should remain responsible for keeping animals.
If animal owners operate businesses with little or no regard to their responsibilities, then they should not keep animals, and the Government will consider sanctions against those who abuse their privileged position. In the future this could possibly involve permits or licensing and the withdrawal of permission to keep animals.
The owners of livestock must accept their individual and collective responsibility to meet the cost of measures from which they directly benefit. They also have a financial responsibility for any harm inflicted on the wider public good as a consequence of their practices. However, whilst these principles apply it is also appropriate for the taxpayer to share in the costs of measures proportionate to the public benefit gained.
Owners should understand and provide for the health and welfare needs of the animals in their care, particularly if the animals have very specific needs, such as horses and exotic pets. Most companion animal owners accept their responsibility for maintaining the health and welfare of their animals, consulting veterinary practices for diagnosis and treatment as necessary. But, as with other animal owners this is not always the case. There is, for example, a trend towards keeping more exotic pets, with owners too frequently not appreciating the level of responsibility involved and failing to understand the animals' needs and the risks to animal and public health. Government has undertaken to communicate and enforce these responsibilities.
6.2 The role of vets
Veterinarians are trained to be alert for signs of disease and welfare problems. As we have said in Chapter 5, vets are uniquely placed to help animal owners adapt to their changing responsibilities and adopt new practices. The role of vets has traditionally focused on the treatment of diseases, and this is still a crucial aspect of their responsibilities. However, there needs to be a culture change in the way vets operate. There needs to be a shift in focus towards services which prevent disease, such as farm health planning, with greater provision of specialised advice as well as advising animal owners on how to meet the behavioural and other needs that underlie good animal welfare. Vets are vital in the education of animal owners by providing information on the latest research and best practice. Vets and vet practices need to ensure that they have the skills and competencies to offer these services and are up-to-date with the latest thinking and best practice.
They should also be prepared to support the veterinary surveillance strategy and other locally run initiatives to share information on current levels of disease and welfare problems. They must also ensure that the veterinary medicines they administer are authorised products and that they are used appropriately and so do not leave unacceptable residues in food. Government will strengthen its contacts with local veterinary practice beyond the already well-established links with Local Veterinary Inspectors to maximise the contribution of the profession at both national and local level.
Veterinarians employed by Government provide advice to Ministers and help develop and implement evidence-based policy. They develop scientific and epidemiological tools for preventing and controlling disease. They also undertake disease surveillance and enforcement through the State Veterinary Service and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency on the farm, and the Meat Hygiene Agency at the slaughterhouse. They work on the assessment of veterinary medicines prior to authorisation.
6.3 Food chain related businesses or services and consumers
A large group of businesses and services beyond the farm, covering auction markets, farm assurance schemes, hauliers, abattoirs, feed manufacturers, processors, veterinary pharmaceutical companies and retailers, have a range of interests in animal health and welfare. Some temporarily keep or handle live animals as part of their business, and must therefore meet health and welfare standards when the animals are in their care. Those that provide feed must ensure it is of suitable quality so that it will maintain the health and welfare of animals and not adversely affect the environment.
Consumers have fundamental expectations about acceptable levels of animal health, the safety of the food they eat, and that standards of animal welfare appropriate to a modern society have been met. Those further up the food chain who are in direct contact with the consumer have a role to play in ensuring safety and raising awareness of these standards. Retailers and their customers can specifically support and reward farmers who invest in standards of animal health and welfare that exceeds the acceptable norm. However, it remains to be seen to what extent some consumers are willing to pay for these higher levels of animal welfare and market developments over time will reveal this. The RSCPA's Farm Assurance and Food Labelling Scheme - Freedom Food - and the labelling and marketing of free-range eggs are specific examples where the consumer is being provided with an opportunity to choose to purchase products perceived to meet a higher alternative animal welfare specification. Defra's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food identifies the reconnection of all the elements of the food chain and in particular farmers with their markets as a key priority.
6.4 Welfare and other animal interest groups
Interests groups have an important role to play in developing animal health and welfare policies and ensuring the right balance of priorities. There are a number of organisations that take an active interest in standards of welfare for animals and other aspects of animal health. This includes organisations which represent animals, such as horses, used in recreation and leisure industries. These groups can raise awareness and actively influence public opinion and the setting and observance of animal health and welfare standards.
6.5 Countryside interest groups, users and managers
Rural and environmental groups help us develop our understanding of the wider needs of landbased and rural businesses, and the needs of local communities. Farming practices and disease control measures can have an impact, positive or negative, on the environment. Rural and environmental interest groups raise awareness of the impact of animal husbandry practices on the countryside and the environment at large and maintain pressure to bring about changes in behaviour when necessary.
Interest groups, however, should also accurately inform and influence the activities of their own members. Some animal owners, for example, feel agriculture and the role of farmers are not properly understood. Everyone who visits farmland and the countryside has a responsibility to respect disease prevention and animal husbandry measures being used by the farmer, and follow the Countryside Code or the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. They have a responsibility not to dispose of food or other rubbish in the countryside and in particular not to feed, handle or otherwise disturb the animals with which they come into contact.
Gamekeepers and landowners also have an important role in the surveillance of animal diseases in wildlife and have a responsibility for the welfare of the wild animals affected by their activities.
6.6 The role of Government: the reasons for intervention
Government intervenes in animal health and welfare for four reasons where the market on its own cannot deliver some or all of the objectives.
(i) To protect human health "Zoonotic" diseases are those which are transmissible between vertebrate animals and man. These zoonoses, such as Salmonellosis, can come from direct contact with an animal or from eating infected meat or other animal products. Government interventions are intended to protect the health of the public. |
(ii) To protect and promote the welfare of animals Society cares about the welfare of animals as sentient creatures. Individuals and organisations argue on various principled grounds for yet higher standards of animal welfare. It is the role of Government to establish levels of welfare on behalf of society and enforce those standards. |
(iii) To protect the interests of the wider economy, environment and society Some animal diseases like Foot and Mouth Disease are highly infectious and can move extensively or rapidly through animal populations. In livestock and aquaculture the implications of these diseases appearing on individual premises run well beyond the commercial interests of that single person or business. In these cases Government will work with animal owners to establish measures which prevent, control and eradicate disease. |
(iv) International Trade The presence of animal disease, either at the national or regional level, can reduce our ability to trade. The EU and OIE operate trade rule systems that help to reduce the risk of animals or animal products spreading disease. In order to trade without restrictions, countries must maintain disease free status for notifiable diseases. Government is best placed to represent interests internationally ensuring sustainable opportunities for trade. |
Government will use these reasons as the starting point for any considerations as to whether intervention should take place. It is the role of Government to balance these interests and resolve them to the greatest advantage of all those affected.
Government has a range of measures available to it including direct intervention such as regulation and indirect intervention such economic incentives e.g. taxation, charging and subsidies. However, Government also seeks to encourage and persuade industry, stakeholders and individuals to change practices and aspire to adopt higher standards of animal health and welfare. This can be achieved by co-ordinating research into animal health and welfare, providing information and knowledge, influencing training and advice mechanisms and promoting the development of best practice within industry. Although Government can take a lead in these areas stakeholders, industry and customers should actively use the information and options provided and bring about necessary change.