Northern Ireland’s Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, has declared that animal welfare will be among his top legislative priorities for the new year.
During a number of engagements last week, the minister updated stakeholders on various proposals aimed at strengthening animal welfare standards in the region.
He confirmed in statement that he met with members of the Northern Ireland Companion Animal Welfare Group and the All-Party Group on Animal Welfare to discuss particular issues of note in person.
Minister Muir said: “Animal welfare is one of my top priorities and I want to ensure that we focus on the right initiatives and that our resources are focused in the areas most in need of reform.
“I want an open and ongoing dialogue on these matters. While I want to give an indication of what the priorities will be, the detail of those reforms will be open to public consultation and ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders.
“I believe that by working together we can ensure efforts are focused on addressing the right issues and collectively, we can go further to achieve the best possible outcomes.”
Animal welfare reforms
These proposals included outlawing the use of adverse training devices such as shock collars and mandating the microchipping of cats.
He also updated stakeholders on the current work to introduce a version of Lucy’s Law in Northern Ireland, which has been enforce in the rest of the UK since April 2020 and prohibits the commercial third party sale of puppies and kittens.
In a bid to tackle the low-welfare, high volume supply of puppies and kittens, ‘Lucy’s Law’ in effect, means that anyone wanting to get a new puppy or kitten must buy direct from a breeder, or consider adopting from a rescue centre instead.
“I intend to bring forward a suite of secondary legislation to address a wide range of issues including the mandatory microchipping of cats and strengthening microchipping requirements, including making it an offence not to update records, and the prohibition of the use of aversive training devices such as shock collars.”
In addition to this, the minister has also confirmed that he is in the process of consulting on mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses and intends to commission an expert group to review Dog Breeding regulations in the Northern Ireland in the new year too.
“With Christmas approaching, I also want to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone considering buying a pet as a present this Christmas to think carefully before doing so.
“Once you are sure you can commit to the responsibility of owning a pet, please consider adopting and providing a home to the many animals living in rehoming organisations,” the minister added.
