Kill a snail and go to jail?

[Ramrod]

Link

PEOPLE who mistreat animals will face fines of up to £20,000 and year-long prison sentences under welfare laws to be announced next week.



RSPCA inspectors will be given powers to enter premises without a warrant, even by using force, to rescue animals believed to be suffering or at risk of harm.

The legislation will also offer protection to creatures such as insects, slugs, worms, caterpillars and butterflies if scientific evidence proves that they suffer pain and distress.

The penalties double the current maximum six-month sentence and substantially increase the £5,000 maximum fine. The hard line will be set out in a draft Bill to be published next week by Ben Bradshaw, the minister in charge of animal welfare. It will be scrutinised by a parliamentary committee and then go before both Houses of Parliament.

Anyone owning a pet, farm or exotic animal will have a statutory “duty of care� towards it and could face having it taken away and being banned from looking after another. Unborn animals will receive the same protection.

RSPCA inspectors will also gain the right to enter without a warrant any lorry, ferry, plane or hovercraft carrying animals. This has been included after concern about livestock on long journeys. But the right will not apply to private homes, where inspectors will need a magistrate’s warrant or to be accompanied by the police Local authorities will be given discretion to insist on registration of people who make money from animals, such as dog-walkers or pet- sitters, who care for animals when owners are away. But a formal licensing scheme has been ruled out as too bureaucratic.

Animal welfare campaigners, however, will be angered that the draft Bill, which updates the Protection of Animals Act 1911, contains no reference to circus animals and fails to ban the docking of dogs’ tails.

Whitehall sources insist, however, that ministers plan secondary legislation to deal with these issues later. As The Times revealed this year, Mr Bradshaw does not believe in a total ban on docking and wants to reach agreement on which breeds of working dog would be exempted before introducing a ban.

He said at the time: “I am looking for a way to get the balance right. It seems odd to me that we allow human circumcision and we should not be over-draconian in terms of animal welfare law. I want sensible, but useful and meaningful, reform.�

The RSPCA said last night that it would continue to campaign for a ban on tail docking except when a vet orders it for therapeutic reasons. The char-ity is also unhappy about circus animals and hopes that this will be looked at again.

The society said that it would be absolutely delighted if a duty of care were set out in law. “It would be the single most important piece of welfare legislation affecting captive and domestic animals since 1911,� a spokeswoman said Other measures in the Bill include a ban on anyone under 16 owning a pet and on goldfish or other animals being given as prizes at fairgrounds or in competitions.

The crackdown follows years of pressure from the RSPCA and organisations such as the Kennel Club.

But the Countryside Alliance is concerned about how the principle of “a duty of care� will be interpreted for animals used in sport or recreation. Even though the proposed changes are not intended to affect hunting, shooting or fishing, there is concern that people may attempt to use them to challenge the treatment of dogs in hunt kennels, racehorses in stables and pheasants reared for game shoots.

[swoop101]

Well if I mistreat my pet slugs and snails, will the RSPCA come round every night and remove them from my garden?

In all honesty, with people who mistreat animals, the penalty has never fit the crime. But with pests (slug,snail,ants,wasps) it is a free for all.

[Paul M]

Once again the lunatics have taken over - "the Bill include a ban on anyone under 16 owning a pet".

Sorry kids - time to get rid of all your pets.

[Mr_love_monkey]

Would you get in trouble if you had a gerbil, and that gerbil had babies - and then the mother ate them? (as they often do?)

Or what if you have a cat then manages to knock down the Gerbil cage and eats one of the gerbils?

Would you be neglegent?

Will this mean a ban on Ant killer?
Will exterminators have to catch cockroaches and keep them in a sanctuary?

Originally Posted by Mr_love_monkey

Will this mean a ban on Ant killer?
Will exterminators have to catch cockroaches and keep them in a sanctuary?

Or would it perhaps be the media just totally misrepresenting legislation to try and get a good story out of it? No, it couldn`t possibly be that.

[Alan Waddington]

Oh, this is silly. No under-16s allowed pets. RSPCA inspectors allowed to break and enter without a warrant. Chances of this passing - zilch.

[Ramrod]

Originally Posted by Alan Waddington

Oh, this is silly. No under-16s allowed pets. RSPCA inspectors allowed to break and enter without a warrant. Chances of this passing - zilch.

Originally Posted by dr wadd

Or would it perhaps be the media just totally misrepresenting legislation to try and get a good story out of it? No, it couldn`t possibly be that.

Thats what I thought....and hoped.....and prayed

[Dave Stones]

i wonder if they have seen this week's b3ta, with the snail-crushing big brother link

[Bifta]

I personally don't think under 16's should have sole responsibility for a pet either, and let's face it, if the RSPCA enquire as the the owner, how many parents who know about the new reforms are going to say "oh it's my 14 year old son's dog"?

[Matth]

The radio reporting of it was that under 16's would not be allowed to BUY a pet.

Before this passes, I shall have to apply my magnifying glass to a few ants on a sunny day.

Does this also mean a flyswat will be a prohibited weapon?


As for beer traps for slugs, well, they need educating about the dangers of alcoholism, and at least they die happy!

Originally Posted by Matth

Before this passes, I shall have to apply my magnifying glass to a few ants on a sunny day.

Does this also mean a flyswat will be a prohibited weapon?

The key factor is scientific evidence that the animal has suffered. I'd like to see anyone prove scientifically that an ant or a fly is suffering.

[Maggy J]

a ban on anyone under 16 owning a pet

Well,well.As I invariably end up being sole carer for any family pet because said under 16 has lost interest it's hardly changing anything is it?

As for the caterpillar/flies crap well who will be able to prove such a thing?It will be proved logically to be a nonsense .In the meantime as long as one doesn't shout about how one kills flies I presume no one gets prosecuted.After all how do the RSPCA keep flies down at their animal shelters?

Frankly the bill has a lot of common sense to it.I suspect that the headline is deliberatly misleading to make folk read about what is relatively dull reading.

Incog.

[Bex]

Originally Posted by Incognitas

As for the caterpillar/flies crap well who will be able to prove such a thing?It will be proved logically to be a nonsense .In the meantime as long as one doesn't shout about how one kills flies I presume no one gets prosecuted.After all how do the RSPCA keep flies down at their animal shelters?

just had a thought, if we are not allowed to harm insects, will companies of insecticides be sued for compansation for the insects that they harm/kill?

[Jerrek]

This is absurd. So much for protecting civil rights...

Isn't almost everything banned for under 16 year olds?

Except for school though, I bet they will make it so under 16 year olds can't have fun at the way there going. God, who knows what will be next!

Thank god I'm 16 though