Steve wrote:

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Dave - will the welfare bill affect the way GAL works?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5411638.stm

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Hi Steve, to be honest no it won't effect the way we work, we'll just bash on as usual! The main area of the bill that I'm hoping will make a difference is the new powers which mean SPCA Inspectors can now remove an animal if they think there's potential isues over the welfare of that animal (before they could only remove an animal who was the victim of cruelty - as an example before if an inspector visited an animal that was living in terrible conditions but none the less appeared healthy there was nothing they could do, now the conditions the animal is kept can be interpreted as a 'potential' issue for the animals welfare and thus make it possible for the animal to be removed) As with all laws however the wording is quite subjective so I guess we'll see what happens, essential now there is a focus on the owners of the animals who now need to ensure the basic welfare needs of their anmals are met.

If any of you are interested there's a summary of the bill here -

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/47-animalHealth/47-animalHealth-passage.pdf

and the complete bill is here -

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/bills/47-animalHealth/b47s2-aspassed.pdf

-- Edited by glendy at 14:32, 2006-10-11

Evening Times article

Calatria wrote:

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So will we actually see animals taken away from people who might not look after them properly?  Hmmm.....

 

 

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and where will the animals be placed, when space is limited at rescue centres at the best of times, so will we have situations where animals will not be removed because they have nowhere to take them too, which in effect means they are left in unsuitable homes (So just back to what the Act was before)

Dave - I dont get to the summary of the bill or full summary when I click on the link above