Animals and your local authority
A Green 2004 local
elections proposal on animal protection and the
creation of an Animal
Protection Officer in every local authority
Contact Ruth Somerville
or Spencer Fitz-Gibbon
Green Party national press office
Tel 0207 561 0282
Email press@greenparty.org.uk
Background
The
Green Party believes that the natural world is not simply a resource to be used
by humans, but that animals and ecosystems should be respected and valued in
their own right. Animals have the capacity to experience pain and suffering,
and the Green Party believes that domestic and wild animals should have our
protection against avoidable suffering or exploitation inflicted by humans.
Currently
animal protection is given insufficient consideration in most local
authorities' policy development. There are no specific animal protection
policies to ensure the protection of non-human species. Further, due to the
lack of a designated animal protection officer, animal protection is not being
taken into account in the development of policies which may have implications
for the wellbeing of animals.
The
proper recognition of the rights of animals could not be achieved without
national and EU legislation and a good degree of public education. There is
only so much that a local authority could achieve. It is the Green Party’s
assertion, however, that local councils should achieve the highest possible
standards of animal protection within its existing powers and capabilities.
Aim of this paper
This
paper therefore:
a.
Describes the policies the Green
Party wants local authorities to adopt in some key animal protection areas.
b.
Outlines a proposal for an animal
protection officer for the city.
Draft City Council policy
on animal protection
Introduction
Local
authorities should do everything in their power to protect both domestic and
wild animals within the city.
Wild animals and
bloodsports
Indigenous
wild animal populations should have the highest possible level of protection.
Councils should seek to discourage developments in their wards which
unnecessarily threaten wild animals and their habitats.
Wild
animal populations (such as pigeons) are often controlled in cities. Where
control is deemed necessary, humane non-lethal methods should be sought as an
absolute priority in consultation with animal protection organisations. City
Councils should do everything in their power to ensure this approach prevails
in both public and private sectors.
Local
authorities should publicise their opposition to all bloodsports. In the
absence of adequate legal prohibiton of bloodsports, the councils should do
everything in their power to help prevent bloodsports in their wards.
Fur trade
Local
Authorities should do everything in their power to help end the trade in fur.
They should discourage businesses involved in the fur trade, and should make
information widely available about the cruelties inherent in the farming and
trading of fur.
Circuses and zoos
In
circuses animals often suffer cruel and degrading treatment. Local authorities
should not allow animal circuses to use public land in their vicinity and
should actively discourage animal circuses from visiting, while actively
encouraging non-animal circuses instead.
Zoos
and private collections of animals should only be granted licences if they are
for the benefit of the animals concerned, eg sanctuaries or establishments
involved in captive breeding of endangered species for eventual return to the
wild.
Companion animals
(pets)
Every
year, thousands of unwanted dogs, cats and other companion animals suffer
neglect or abandonment. Some are re-homed but thousands are destroyed at the
expense of charities and local authorities. To alleviate this suffering, local authorities
should establish a spaying and neutering service, which should be free to
people on low incomes.
Pet
shops often trade in exotic animals which may have been caught from the wild,
suffer long traumatic journeys and face unsuitable living conditions in this
country. Pending the introduction of stricter regulations in this area, local
authorities should seek to ensure that all pet shops in their wards operate on
the highest animal welfare standards and have sufficient inspections from
veterinarians. Councils should actively discourage the trade in animals caught
in the wild.
Animal experiments
A
very high proportion of the public (like the Green Party) is opposed to all
aspects of vivisection, and a higher proportion to some aspects of vivisection.
Local authorities should actively encourage greater investment in alternatives
to animal research in their wards, actively discourage animal experimentation,
and seek to ensure greater transparency over those experiments which are
conducted.
The
Councils should urge their colleges and universities to acknowledge the right
of students to refuse animal experiments or dissection without fear of
discrimination.
Local
authorities will not permit animal experimentation in publicly owned buildings,
including schools.
Local
authorities should incorporate into their ethical purchasing policy a clause
stating that no materials tested on animals (eg cleaning materials) will be
purchased by themselves.
Factory farming and
non-animal diets
Millions
of animals are killed for food in the UK each year. Most are reared in cruel
and exploitative factory farms. Councils will do everything in its power to
encourage ecological and humane practice in any farms within the their
boundaries. This means:
a.
Promoting farming in small free-range
units.
b.
Avoiding live exports.
c.
Minimising the live transportation of
farm animals.
d.
Abolish the piece rate system in
abattoirs, which encourages slaughterers to prioritise speed over humane
treatment of the animals in their charge.
e.
Improving market and slaughterhouse
conditions, and phasing out all forms of intensive farming.
Local
authorities will ensure greater availability of vegetarian and vegan options in
all menus serving council premises, including
schools. A mechanism for processing feedback over adequate availability of
vegan and vegetarian options should be instituted towards this end.
Local
authorities should establish a cruelty-free product register.
Economic development
and investment
Economic
activity often generates profits at the expense of animals and the environment,
despite the emergence of cruelty-free alternatives. Councils should do
everything in their power to ensure that economic development does not
unnecessarily harm animals, habitats or ecosystems.
Councils
should do everything in their power to promote ethical investments in the
financial sector which avoid companies and projects causing avoidable harm to
animals, habitats and ecosystems. This would include the transfer of any such
investments, pensions or insurance policies to ethical alternatives.
Councils
should establish a public register of ethically audited companies and public
bodies which include criteria of avoiding animal suffering and exploitation and
should encourage all companies and public bodies to undertake ethical audits.
An Animal Protection
Officer for each local authority
The
Green Party believes that an animal protection officer should be appointed at
every level of government to ensure the highest standards protection for
animals.
Job Description for
Animal Protection Officer in Blankcastar Council
a.
Develop and advise on the Council’s policies for animal
rights, animal welfare and animal protection.
b.
Advise the Council, individual councillors, senior
managers and other key figures on all aspects of animal rights, animal welfare
and animal protection, and provide responses to correspondence from the public.
c.
Build partnerships with stakeholders to promote the
enforcement of relevant existing legislation.
d.
Provide and contribute to the preparation of information
and educational materials to promote best practice in, and awareness of, animal
rights, animal welfare and animal protection issues in Blankcastar.
a. A
clear and demonstrable commitment to animal protection and protection, and a
wide range of relevant professional experience.
b. Demonstrable
knowledge of animal protection and protection issues in Blankcastar, and the
roles of major statutory and voluntary organisations working in this field in
the UK.
c.
Demonstrable evidence of investigating, analysing and
recommending solutions to complex problems and issues involving animal
protection.
d. Evidence
of success in preparing authoritative, clear and concise oral and written
reports and briefings on complex and sensitive issues to a range of audiences.
e. Good
communications skills, with a successful track record of giving professional
advice to staff at all levels of an organisation on complex and sensitive
issues.
f.
Evidence of success in building partnerships and forming
working relationships as part of a team, and working flexibly, across
professional and operational boundaries within an organisation and with
external organisations.
g. Skills
in analysis, interpretation and presentation of complex data, legislation and
research in a form that is suitable for others (including non-specialists) to
understand and use.
h. A
track record of undertaking and managing projects successfully and delivering
on target.
i.
Experience of using computers for word-processing and
electronic communication. Familiarity with spreadsheets and databases is
desirable.
j.
Understanding of and commitment to equal opportunities
in employment and service delivery within a large and complex organisation.