Last week the Manx government put a very important proposed Parliamentary Bill out for public consultation - namely the Animal Welfare Bill 2021

We need your help to ensure the Bill is finally passed into law.

Please take five minutes to complete the consultation by visiting the following link: https://consult.gov.im/environment-food-and-agriculture/animal-welfare-bill-2021-public-consultation/

If you are unable to complete the consultation in an electronic format, please contact the Department of Food and Agriculture (DEFA) on 687143.

If there is public apathy and a lack of interest in this new legislation, the Bill may not come to pass and other political priorities may take precedence.

The following is an overview of the proposed Bill, and the need for a public consultation, that may help with any queries you may have.

Why do we need an Animal Welfare Bill?

The Isle of Man has various existing laws relating to animal welfare, such as the Wildlife Act 1990, but it does not have broad legislation that prevents cruelty to companion (or ’kept’) animals such as cats, dogs and horses.

Indeed, the Cruelty to Animals Act 1997 requires cruelty to have already taken place in order for there to be any sanction.

The Isle of Man’s proposed Animal Welfare Bill mirrors large parts of the UK’s Animal Welfare Act 2006, which places great importance on an animal’s environment using the concept of the Five Freedoms. These are:

Freedom from hunger and thirst

Freedom from discomfort

Freedom from pain, injury and disease

Freedom to express normal behaviour

Freedom from fear and distress.

The Bill will provide an overarching framework which may seem to lack detail, but it then enables more specific, secondary legislation to be passed in the form of ’orders’.

As part of the public consultation the government have mentioned several areas for secondary legislation, with two very important ones planned for the 2021/22 parliamentary session.

The first is the Animal Welfare (Sale of Puppies and Kittens) Order, which will apply the provisions of the UK’s Animal Welfare Act to regulate the sale of puppies and kittens.

This provision is commonly known as ’Lucy’s Law’ (Lucy being a breeding bitch who was rescued from a puppy farm, having spent a lifetime living in appalling conditions) and it was introduced in England and Wales in April last year.

It aims to ensure that all puppies and kittens are purchased directly from a registered breeder or adopted from a rescue centre, rather than from puppy farmer or their intermediaries.

Although Lucy’s Law hasn’t been able to prevent black market sales of ’pandemic puppies’ entirely, it is a step in the right direction.

The second is the Animal Welfare (Service Animals Offences) Order, which will provide greater legal protections to service animals such as police dogs.

In the UK the provision is commonly referred to as ’Finn’s Law’, named after a police dog who was very seriously injured in a knife attack as he defended his handler.

Once the order comes into effect on the island, it will ensure that anyone who injures a service animal will, upon conviction, face a higher criminal sanction than at present.

Issues such as these may not be as commonplace on the Isle of Man as they are in the UK, but they still exist. Please play your part in ensuring that the Animal Welfare Bill is be passed into Manx law, and note that the consultation ends on April 5.