CONTENTS

politics first | Corridors
ADVERTORIAL
Countering dog abuse
at home and abroad
Henry Smith, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal
Welfare and Conservative MP for Crawley
As the Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group
for Animal Welfare, I have worked, over the last year,
on a number of campaigns to raise awareness of the
importance of improved treatment and protection of
dogs.
Forecasting the future at fifty
Dr Kirsten Pullen,
Chief Executive Officer at BIAZA
76
Among the APPG’s officers are
Conservative, Labour, Green and Scottish
National Party MPs, as well as a crossbench
member of the House of Lords.
Last year, our APPG held the UK’s first
ever Dog Conference; this brought together
a whole range of stakeholders, including
DEFRA Minister George Eustice. I was also
delighted to bring my beagle, Frisbee, to
London to take part in the Westminster Dog
of the Year show!
Alongside the Kennel Club and the Dogs
Trust, I will continue to raise awareness of
the need to ensure dogs are protected. The
theme of last year’s event was to highlight
the importance of access for dog walkers
to the range of public open spaces in the
UK – there are health and welfare benefits to
dogs and their owners of making the most
of such areas.
Ahead of this year’s summer recess, I
once again joined with the League Against
Cruel Sports in Parliament. Its Project
Bloodline investigation lasted six months,
and sought to understand why, when and
where dog fighting takes place, as well
as how it can be stopped. I support the
campaign to both increase the custodial
sentences for such abuse to at least three
years, as well as the League’s call for a
national register of animal abusers.
Among the startling findings in their report
included prohibited dogs bred and sold in a
clandestine market in order to supply the
high demand for status and fighting dogs
with Pitbull-type puppies being sold for
£1,000, and a feral cat colony being kept to
supply “bait” for dog fighting.
Clearly, more needs to be done. It is
difficult for most of us to comprehend why
anyone would even contemplate training
dogs to fight, injure and kill.
There are a range of measures which
can be undertaken to help tackle those
problems. A key recommendation in this
area is to ensure a national register of
individuals banned from keeping dogs.
That will help prevent further offences from
being committed, while providing statutory
agencies with greater assistance in ensuring
enforcement action is taken.
The issue goes beyond animal welfare;
evidence from the UK and from abroad
points to such activity being a “gateway”
crime to organised offences such as drug
trafficking, illegal firearms and child abuse.
So, for example, in the United States, dog
fighting is recognised as a Grade A felony
by the FBI – the practise of tackling dog
fighting to prevent other crimes is well
established.
Outside of the UK, I am sure that anyone
who has seen the results of investigations
into the dog meat trade would be horrified
with some of the findings. The sight of dogs,
bred inhumanely to ensure their swift future
sale, is surely of deep concern to us all.
It is also a timely reminder that there are
ways in which the UK can be seen as a world
leader in animal welfare, and the Government
must not lose sight of its responsibility to
ensure it promotes such values as raising
standards of care, as well as ensuring more
compassionate treatments.
As a dog lover, I also welcomed new laws
which came into effect this April making it
compulsory for dogs to be microchipped.
DEFRA figures from before the law change
showed that more than 80 per cent of dog
owners had already complied with those
rules. The microchip means that if one of the
8.5 million dogs registered are found after
going missing, they can be reunited with
their owner.
The Government are expecting local
authorities and charities, which would,
otherwise, feed and home dogs which go
missing, to make £33 million in annual
savings if the dogs were to be microchipped
and returned to their owners.
I am always pleased to receive messages
from my constituents who support our
efforts to improve animal welfare, and I look
forward to continuing to raise these issues in
Parliament and Whitehall.
This year the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It goes without saying that a
considerable amount of change has taken place within the zoo community since the Association was formed in 1966. Born as a result of
a growing change in public attitude towards zoos and zoo practice, the membership organisation brought together like-minded industry
experts who set out to develop standardised principles and practices in animal management, ensuring members achieved and maintained
the highest of standards. Today, BIAZA has 113 members throughout Britain and Ireland, with more applying to join, and we cover a political
remit of two national governments, three devolved governments and two crown dependencies.
Each year BIAZA zoos and aquariums receive more than 23 million visits, our members carry out over 700 research and research training
projects, they support more than 500 field conservation projects and contribute well over £10 million to field conservation. We are a strong,
active association and as such believe we are well placed to face the conservation challenges of the next 50 years.
As the Association uses its anniversary year to reflect on five decades of achievements, it has also given us an opportunity to look forward.
Much of what lies ahead is uncertain, and as we digest the news that the UK has voted to leave the EU we will, in the future, be operating
in a situation where a proportion of our members will be within the EU and a proportion outside. Brexit will impact on the activities of our
members in a variety of ways, and we ask that the UK government keeps our community in mind as our withdrawal is negotiated.
Our members work within the EU Zoos Directive which ultimately has been very effective in working to improve zoo and aquarium standards
across the European Region. Much of the detail of the Directive was drawn from the UK’s previously existing Zoo Licensing Act and we feel
strongly that its implementation must be protected.
Working cooperatively across the European Region, our members use networks facilitated by EU Animal Health laws to exchange animals
for conservation breeding programmes. This legislation, with the resulting level of disease monitoring, allows for easy transport of animals
across the EU. In order to protect our breeding programmes we must maintain a relationship with the EU that allows for the efficient transport
of animals across European borders.
As a profession we benefit greatly from partnering with and learning from other zoos and aquariums within the European Region and
beyond. Much of this transfer of skills and knowledge has been facilitated by the free movement of professionals within the EU and I am sure
we are not alone in emphasising our desire for the government to protect this professional exchange network.
Within the last twelve months a review of both the EU Habitats and the EU Birds Directives was carried out by the European Union. They were
both found to be fit for purpose and crucially have had a significant positive effective for conservation. As a wildlife charity, conservation is at
the heart of our mission. As we depart the EU we hope the government will evaluate the range of conservation and environmental protection
laws that we will no longer be subject to and replace relevant directives and regulations with effective UK legislation.
For more information on BIAZA, visit:
www.biaza.org.uk