Dear FAST community,

The UK's Animal Sentience Committee has just published an independent report on the due regard paid to the welfare of animals in the implementation and enforcement of UK laws and regulations protecting animals.

The Animal Law Foundation is delighted to see that data from its report on this matter, The Enforcement Problem, was referenced by the ASC and similar conclusions were reached: the enforcement of animal protection laws is lacking.

The ASC’s report also concludes that the issues surrounding animal welfare compliance and enforcement relate to inconsistencies in detection of offences, complexity of the legislative environment, resources, lack of coordinated inter-agency response, variable enforcer training and expertise, and transparency over the effectiveness of adequate reporting and enforcement.

The ASC's conclusion comes as a great achievement as ministers must now respond through a written statement to Parliament within 3 months of the report's publication.

Background

The Enforcement Problem's report (with updated data for 2022 and 2023) revealed that: 

• 2.5% of farms were inspected
• Approximately 22% of inspections on farms identified non-compliance
• On average, fewer than 1% of cases of non-compliance revealed during inspections across all farmed animal premises, including slaughterhouses, were prosecuted in 2022-2023

Thank you, 

Morgane Speeckaert 
Advocacy and Communications Officer at The Animal Law Foundation