A manifesto, produced by animal protection groups brought together by Wildlife and Countryside Link and the UK Centre for Animal Law (A-Law) called Brexit: Getting the Best Deal for Animals has just been released and the Animal Interfaith Alliance have signed up to it. It’s objective is to present to the UK government a manifesto for designing animal welfare legislation following the UK’s departure from the EU after Brexit.
Whilst taking no position on the merits of Britain’s departure from the EU, signatories to this manifesto believe that Brexit presents many opportunities to improve animal welfare, both in the UK and overseas. It also recognises that Brexit carries risks of erosion of hard-won animal welfare standards enshrined into EU law. The document provides a summary of the current EU and international animal protection measures that the organisations believe should be maintained in UK law and also the improvements that could be made.
The document has sections on wild animals, animals in agriculture, companion animals and animals used in research, as well as a section on EU legislation as part of UK law, before and after Brexit. Some of the key issues covered include – refining CAP policy to reward farmers for high animal welfare and environmental standards instead of the size of their land, ending live exports, banning the fur trade, mandatory labelling of meat and dairy products relating to farming method and slaughter practice, closing loopholes in the Pet Travel Scheme that allow the cruel trade in poorly bred puppies from Central and Eastern Europe and much more.
To read the full document go to:
http://www.alaw.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Brexit-Getting-the-Best-Deal-for-Animals-Full-Report.pdf
Animal Interfaith Alliance 