Government urged to enact long awaited animal welfare legislation

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

National legislators were today (Sunday 27/05/2012) urged to press ahead with the implementation of long awaited new animal welfare legislation by passing the 2012 Animal Health and Welfare Bill into law.

According to practising veterinarian and TV vet Pete Wedderburn, the fact that existing legislation is now more than a century old means that the state is relying on antiquated and outdated laws to protect and safeguard the welfare of domestic, farm and wild animals alike.

“The simple fact that the last major animal welfare act was passed as long ago as 1911 graphically underlines the need for the Government to press ahead with its plans pass the new legislation,” he says. “While there are many important aspects to the new legislation, the key point is that it represents a major step forward because it will make it possible to take action in cases of animal mistreatment and neglect, rather than only in cases of active cruelty, as is currently the situation.”

Mr. Wedderburn was speaking at the opening of the 2012 National Animal Welfare Forum in Dublin’s City West Hotel. Part of the annual Spay Ireland public awareness campaign and hosted by Veterinary Ireland, this year’s Forum provides concerned individuals and representatives from a range of animal welfare organisations an important opportunity to discuss a range of key animal welfare issues.

Speakers at the Forum included:

• Mark Beazley of Dogs Trust on the current stray dog situation in Ireland.

• Dorothy Walker of the ISPCA on the organisation’s Spay Drive initiative to reduce the country’s feral cat population.

• Orla Aungier and Georgina Neal of the DoneDeal Foundation on promoting responsible pet ownership and advocating adoption of homeless animals as a first choice over purchase.

• Mary Ann Bartlett of Compassion in World Farming on Farm Animal Welfare.

• Miriam Anderson of ANVIL (Animals Need a Voice in Legislation) on Animal Welfare Legislation.

“While there are many organisations and individuals who are concerned with animal welfare, this Forum shows that there is unity in diversity and provides an umbrella under which people are committed to working together to advance the animal welfare cause,” Pete Wedderburn adds.

National Animal Welfare Forum

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

National Animal Welfare Forum
Date Sunday 27th May 2012
Place The Ballroom, Citywest Hotel, Dublin
Time 1.00pm-5.00pm
Free Admission

To launch this year’s Spay Ireland campaign, the Veterinary Ireland Animal Welfare Committee invites you to attend a National Animal Welfare Forum.

Chaired by Pat Kirwan, Chairman of Veterinary Ireland Animal Welfare Committee, the event is intended to serve as a sensible, objective review of animal welfare issues. Key speakers will discuss a range of topics with a focus on domestic cats and dogs, but also including farm animals, feral cats, online animal sales and animal welfare legislation.

The forum will also mark the launch of this year’s Spay Ireland campaign to end the destruction of healthy animals through prevention. Latest figures show that 2011 was the first year since 2005 to see an increase in the number of unwanted dogs destroyed. The fact that we have returned to an upward trend underlines the point that there is no room for complacency. Spay Ireland aims to end this needless slaughter by encouraging owners to spay and neuter their pets.

If any of these issues are of interest to you, we’d love to see you there.