15 September 2010

Carter wrong on animal welfare claims, says Kedgley

The Minister of Agriculture David Carter’s arguments for not supporting the Animal Welfare Bill are confusing and suggest the Minister is clutching at straws to find a reason to oppose the Bill, Green Party animal welfare spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

Ms Kedgley's Bill ensures that practices which breach key sections of the Animal Welfare Act must be phased out. Mr Carter has claimed that if the Animal Welfare Bill was passed it would stop the transportation of any group of animals from a farm to a meat processing company, for example.

“Mr Carter’s claims are nonsense,” said Ms Kedgley.

“The provisions in my Bill only come into force if the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) establishes that a particular practice does not meet the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act.

“NAWAC has not found this to be the case with animal transportation, so this would not apply.

“Furthermore, the Animal Welfare Act already stipulates that animals are required to have the opportunity to display normal patterns of behaviour, which most animals being transported are clearly unable to do.

“If Mr Carter was correct, it would already be illegal, under the existing Act, to transport animals. Clearly it isn’t.

“According to Mr Carter's interpretation, veterinarians would not be able to restrain an animal for examination as the animal would not be able to display normal patterns of behaviour, during the process.

“This is not true, and it is absolutely not the intention of my Bill to prevent basic practices such as the transportation of animals.

“My Bill seeks to phase out practices which NAWAC has found do not meet key obligations of the Animal Welfare Act, such as sow crates,” said Ms Kedgley.

“By opposing this Bill, Mr Carter is condemning animals to be kept in cages indefinitely.”

ENDS

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