‘Absolutely Fabulous’ star and long-time animal welfare campaigner Dame Joanna Lumley has thrown her support behind the Government’s new Animal Welfare Strategy, as it was launched alongside Battersea Dogs & Cats Home by the Environment Secretary, Emma Reynolds.
The package of reforms, welcomed by Rochdale MP Paul Waugh, sets out the most ambitious programme of animal welfare improvements in a generation, strengthening protections for pets, farm animals and wildlife.
Pets and wild animals across Rochdale are set to benefit from the new strategy, which will have a direct impact on local families, farmers and the countryside.
Rochdale includes large areas of green space, farmland and upland countryside along the Pennines, alongside its towns and neighbourhoods. The new strategy will therefore affect not only pet owners, but also rural communities and the wildlife that forms part of the borough’s landscape.
The wide-ranging reforms will strengthen protections for animals at every stage of life.
They include new action to crack down on puppy farming and tighten the law on dog breeding, tackling low-welfare practices that too often leave animals suffering and families dealing with long-term health problems. The strategy also builds on new legislation to end puppy smuggling, helping to stop cruel and illegal pet trading.
For Rochdale’s many pet-owning households, the plans also commit to making it easier for responsible tenants to keep pets in rented homes, alongside proposals to consult on banning electric shock collars.
Local farmers and rural communities will benefit from plans to move away from some of the most intensive confinement systems, including phasing out colony cages for laying hens and working with the sector to end the use of farrowing crates for pigs. The Government will also address welfare concerns around the use of carbon dioxide to stun pigs and consult on introducing humane slaughter standards for farmed fish. These changes are intended to raise welfare standards while supporting a productive and sustainable farming sector.
Wildlife protections will be strengthened through a ban on trail hunting, an end to the use of snare traps, and the introduction of a close season for hares to protect animals during the breeding period.
Alongside the Animal Welfare Strategy, the Government has also announced plans in recent months to fast-track the phase-out of animal testing wherever safe and effective alternatives exist, backed by major new investment in non-animal methods such as organ-on-a-chip technologies, advanced human tissue models and the use of AI.
Paul Waugh, Member of Parliament for Rochdale, said:
“Rochdale stretches from dense town centres out into farmland, moorland and the Pennine hills. That means animal welfare matters here in a very real way, to farmers, to families with pets, and to everyone who values our countryside.
“I’m proud to welcome this new Animal Welfare Strategy, which will improve the lives of animals at home, on farms and in the wild. From ending puppy farming and snare traps, to improving farm animal welfare and banning trail hunting, these reforms close long-standing loopholes and raise standards in line with what people expect.
“It’s also important that this sits alongside the Government’s work to move away from animal testing wherever science allows. By backing new technologies and alternative methods, we can reduce animal suffering while supporting life-saving research and keeping the UK at the forefront of ethical science.”
The Animal Welfare Strategy sets out a programme of legislation, consultation and partnership working through to 2030, aimed at embedding higher welfare standards across England.