New pledge to protect pets in Northern Ireland

The welfare of companion animals in Northern Ireland has risen up the legislative agenda as government officials pledged to develop new laws to protect pets.

While improvements have been made in farm animal legislation in Northern Ireland there has been little progress on laws to protect companion animals, in contrast to the rest of the UK. The Animal Welfare Acts which were recently introduced in Scotland, England and Wales, put a legal ‘duty of care’ on owners to understand and provide for the needs of their pet. No such legislation currently exists in Northern Ireland.

A new group backed by Jim Wells, MLA for South Down, has been formed to support the development of companion animal legislation in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Companion Animal Welfare Committee (NICAWC) brings together vets and animal welfare organisations across the UK with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Representatives met officials from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) last week to discuss future plans for improving the welfare of pets in Northern Ireland.

Steve Goody, Director of Companion Animal Welfare for The Blue Cross pet charity and Chairman of NICAWC, said: "There is a clear need for Northern Ireland to bring its legislation up to date to properly protect companion animals, in line with the new Animal Welfare Acts in Scotland, England and Wales. We are delighted with the positive response to our first meeting at Stormont and we look forward to significant progress being made."

14 March 2008