The Animal Welfare Act
The new Animal Welfare Act is coming into force in England as of
Friday. Basically, owners of animals are now legally required to
ensure their basic welfare. It's amazing to think that up until now
there was no obligation in law to care for one's pets, but
congratulations to the government for doing the right thing.
The government now needs to take steps to heavily reform or ban
battery farming (and to work with the EU to ensure there is a
consistent policy on this so cheap battery-farmed eggs from other EU
countries can't flood our markets), and make sure regulations on
circuses and zoos are putting the welfare of the animal before the
entertainment of the crowds.
At the other end of the spectrum, more needs to be done by the
government to protect scientists involved in animal research. What
they are doing is legal and very closely regulated. There is reform
needed within this field (notably the ending of cosmetic testing), but
the government takes any foul play by researchers very seriously as
some ex-employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences found out. Abuse of
animals is wrong, but so too is abuse of the families of scientists
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