Brexit; a bad deal for animals
23 June 2023
BREXIT; A BAD DEAL FOR ANIMALS
New Born Free-backed report highlights failings to protect and improve animal welfare in the UK.
Seven years to the day since the Brexit referendum, a new report, released today, reveals that the Government has failed to deliver its promise to ‘revolutionise’ animal welfare post-Brexit, and a string of stalled and dropped legislation has left millions of animals at risk.
Seven years to the day since the Brexit referendum, a new report, released today, reveals that the Government has failed to deliver its promise to ‘revolutionise’ animal welfare post-Brexit, and a string of stalled and dropped legislation has left millions of animals at risk.
Backed by a number of prominent animal protection groups including Born Free, the report ‘A Review of Brexit; getting the best Brexit deal for animals’ highlights how the previously promised improvements for animals used in research, wild animals, animals in agriculture and companion animals have all fallen short as all ranked either red or amber on a barometer of delivery progress.
Throughout the Brexit process, the nation was promised that the UK’s departure from the EU would provide the opportunity for a fundamental rethink of how we treat animals in the UK. But, on the seventh anniversary of the referendum animal protection groups from the coalition #BetterDealForAnimals including Born Free, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS UK, Humane Society International/UK and RSPCA have released a report together with the Wildlife and Countryside Link and the UK Centre for Animal Law (A-Law) highlighting the failings to companion, wild and farmed animals.
In May 2021, DEFRA released its Action Plan for Animal Welfare, in which the Government recognised leaving the European Union was an ‘opportunity to do things better’ for animals and promised to ‘revolutionise’ our treatment of animals. However, just last month the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which has been languishing in Parliament for the past two years, was dropped from the political agenda.
The report looks at changes in the law post-Brexit and then addresses the progress, or lack of, for animals used in research, wild animals, animals in agriculture and domesticated animals, ranking each area against the recommendations from the #BetterDealForAnimals 2018 report as well as the Conservative Party’s own promises in its 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The report’s Risk Barometer ranks most areas orange or red, highlighting that little progress has been made and the urgent need for increased animal welfare protections through improved legislation.
In terms of captive and free-living wild animals, progress has been almost non-existent, says Born Free’s Head of Policy Dr Mark Jones: “While the protections for wild animals under EU law have been largely retained, commitments on biodiversity protection and recovery have been diluted and delivered late and promises to address welfare issues affecting both free-living and captive wild animals remain largely unfulfilled. The failure by the Government to deliver the key elements for wild animals contained in the now defunct Animals Abroad and Kept Animals Bills leaves both captive and free-living wild animals in limbo, relying on precarious Private Members’ Bills and vague promises that some elements will be taken forward through other legislative mechanisms.”