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babyboos
10-30-2005, 01:48 PM
On October 13th the Animal Welfare Bill was presented to the House of Commons.



The Animal Welfare Bill has been described as ‘the most significant animal welfare legislation for nearly a century’,



Among other things, the Bill introduces a duty on owners and keepers of all vertebrate animals (not just farmed animals) to ensure the welfare of the animals in their care.



The Bill is still in the early stages, and organisations are still able to present their concerns and opinions to government. Individuals are still welcome to write to their MPs.



More about the Animal Welfare Bill is available on www.defra.gov.uk (http://www.defra.gov.uk)



Download the Animal Welfare Bill



Stages of a Bill through Parliament

This content is taken from the Parliament website. More information can be found at www.parliament.com (http://www.parliament.com)



i) First Reading

This is when the title of the Bill is announced and copies of it are distributed. Many Private Members’ Bills fail at this stage, but it does give the MP sponsoring the Bill the opportunity to draw public and governmental attention to the matter and to express why they feel the legislation is needed.



ii) Second Reading

This is the stage when the House debates the general principles contained in the Bill. It is very rare for a Government Bill to be denied a second reading.



iii) Committee Stage

Most Bills will then pass over to a Standing Committee (designated by letters, i.e. Standing Committee A, B, C) which is constituted for the specific purpose of dealing with Bills. It consists of approximately 18 MPs and reflects the state of the parties represented in the Commons. At the Committee Stage, the Committee or the House, which can itself sit as a Committee, subjects the Bill to a thorough line-by-line examination and makes amendments where necessary.



(Note: Standing Committees should not be confused with Select Committees or Joint Committees. Select Committees tend to take evidence rather than just debate issues. Any recommendations or findings emerging from these Committees are then passed to the Commons as command papers. Joint Committees consist of a Select Committee from each House appointed to meet under one chairman.)



iv) Report Stage

Here, the Bill that has been amended during the Committee Stage is reviewed. All members of the House have an opportunity to speak and vote at this stage, making it distinct from the Standing Committee Stage, where the scope for debate is rather limited.



(Note: in the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, the Report Stage is known as the Consideration Stage.)



v) Third Reading

Here, the House looks at the final version of the Bill in its entirety. This stage is usually quite brief, as no major amendments are made to a Bill passed on from the Report Stage. If substantial amendments are demanded, the Bill has to be sent back to the Standing Committee for further consideration.



(Note: some Bills are also subject to guillotine motions, that is, debate on a Bill is limited so that it can be quickly enacted. This mainly occurs if the Government has called a general election and wishes to use its majority in the Commons to rush through parts of its legislative program. There is also a new stage to the process called a Programme Motion, introduced in 1999. Here, a programme or timetable is put before the House, setting out specific dates for the various stages of the Bill.)



vi) Lords Stages

These are similar to the various stages of the Commons. Changes to a Bill in the House of Lords after it has completed all its stages in the Commons will necessitate an extra stage in the Commons, called Lords Amendments Considered, in order to approve or disapprove of any amendments made by the Lords. The Commons accepts around 90% of these Amendments because they are generally not controversial.



The Lords may delay a Bill if, for example, it feels that there is no popular mandate for it. The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 limit the delaying power of the Lords to thirty days in the case of Money Bills and up to one year in the case of other Bills.



Unless the House of Commons invokes the Parliament Act, both Houses of Parliament must agree on the final text of the Bill.



vii) Royal Assent

The final stage is when the Crown formally assents to the Bill in order for it to pass into law. The Sovereign, as the third pillar of Parliament (along with the Commons and the Lords), must give consent to a Bill for it formally to become an Act. The last time Royal Assent was given by the Sovereign in person was in 1854.



Since the UK is a constitutional Monarchy, the Sovereign is bound to Assent to any Bill, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Assent has not been withheld since 1707, when Queen Anne refused a Bill for settling the militia in Scotland (the Scottish Militia Bill).

flogging_molly
10-30-2005, 02:00 PM
This is really a great step towards the good of animal welfare and i'm truely happy that something is finally being done.

babyboos
10-30-2005, 02:03 PM
The Animal Welfare Bill, the first overhaul of such legislation for nearly a century, will see the introduction of tougher penalties for animal cruelty. Those found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to animals will face almost a year in prison and fines of up to £20,000.

The new Bill, which applies to England and Wales, aims to simplify and strengthen animal welfare legislation by bringing more than 20 pieces of legislation into one.

The Bill will introduce a duty on those responsible for animals to do “all that is reasonable” to ensure the welfare of their animals. This includes: the provision of a suitable environment; a suitable diet; and freedom from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

The minimum age at which a child can buy an animal will be raised from 12 to 16 under the legislation and unaccompanied children under 16 will be prohibited from receiving pets as prizes.

The proposed Bill is a much more appropriate way to ensure an animal’s welfare than relying on a 94-year-old law that was only designed to prevent outright cruelty.

The majority of pet owners and others involved with the care of animals have nothing to fear from this legislation. The Bill is aimed at those few who do not properly fulfil their responsibilities for the animals in their charge.

Emma
10-31-2005, 05:08 AM
I think the new bill is brilliant, although there a few worrying things in it such as regulation of pet fairs (good thing) that doesn't discriminate between nasty big horrbile "pet fairs" (usually bird fairs) and what I consider good pet shows that have a sales table, such as we are used to in the hamster fancy, which actually promote welfare etc. There's also new powers for the RSPCA which I do not like!!



Apart from those small things I'm really pleased with everything else - registration of rescues, increased age of pet ownership etc but most importantly the duty of care aspect - this is brilliant.