4. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on animal welfare in Wales? OAQ51554

Animal welfare is a priority for the Welsh Government. An overarching strategic outcome of the Wales animal health and welfare framework group is:

'Animals in Wales have a good quality of life'.

Work is ongoing to revise the existing Welsh Government livestock and companion animal welfare codes of practice.

Thank you for that answer. Cabinet Secretary, RSPCA Cymru believes that an animal abuse register would act as a deterrent for individuals who may otherwise have committed acts of cruelty, and could also help to prevent the suffering of other animals from reoffenders. Will the Welsh Government consider an animal abuse register?

Thank you for that question. Certainly, I have been approached by the RSPCA in relation to this, and it's something that we are giving very serious consideration to. 

Cabinet Secretary, I heard your exchange with the leader of UKIP earlier about CCTV in abattoirs, and it is correct to say that all large abattoirs do have CCTV. There is an issue that it should be rolled out in the rest of the abattoir sector, and we on these benches support that. From your findings and your deliberations on this, would it be correct to say that funding could be released from the rural development programme to support such an initiative so that there wasn't an undue burden placed on small abattoirs, on a cost basis, that could jeopardise their future, which is vital to the promotion of red meat in this part of the United Kingdom?

Certainly, yes, it is something that we are looking at from the RDP. I mentioned in my answer to Neil Hamilton that I had a meeting just this morning with Professor Christianne Glossop about this. I don't want that to be a burden. I don't want smaller slaughterhouses to come to me and say that funding to do this is a barrier, so I would want to take that away. You asked specifically about the RDP—obviously, there may be legal matters that I would have to look into—and that is the piece of work that's currently ongoing.

Cabinet Secretary, I wanted to ask you about the rearing of game birds. There appears to be no regular inspection of these sites by animal health inspectors and the current code of practice on game bird rearing is now seven years old. It is very basic and it doesn't even require a minimum space for the birds to be reared in. So, really, they're often reared in overcrowded, battery-like conditions. We don't allow hens to be in such conditions, so I wondered if the Cabinet Secretary would commit to review the regulatory framework on the welfare of game birds that are reared for so-called sporting purposes at the earliest opportunity.

Thank you, Julie Morgan, for that question. I mentioned in my original answer to Mandy Jones that we were currently revising many of the existing codes of practice. Certainly, there was a code of practice for the welfare of game birds reared for sporting purposes in 2011, for instance. So, we have been in consultation with the industry and welfare organisations, looking at that particular code of practice. I'd be very happy to see if we need to change that.

I think we should also remind those who are responsible for game birds that they should be knowledgeable and competent in husbandry and management techniques. The code of practice states that when birds are housed or penned, the accommodation should be well constructed and managed and of sufficient size to ensure good health and welfare. As I say, we are looking at revising these codes of practice, so if we look at it and we think that something needs changing in the regulations, that would be the opportunity to do it.

I wanted to carry on with the question with regard to the animal abuse register. Clearly, we're well advanced in this particular area with the working group led by RSPCA, but I wondered whether you'd taken on my concerns last time whereby those who had started the campaign, such as Tŷ Nant animal sanctuary and Maxine Berry from Justice for Chunky, would be involved in that particular working group. Could you give us an outline as to when you would be making your initial statements or thoughts as to whether this would be something Wales could lead on—a Wales first—to have this register? I think progress on it would be welcomed by campaigners in the field.

Yes, as you say, the working group has now met. I think they're due to report to me in the summer. So, I would imagine the timeline for being able to bring forward a statement would probably be the summer or as soon as we come back following the summer. It's a piece of work that, obviously, you've shown a particular interest in and I think it would be great if we could be first. Certainly, at the moment, we're ahead of the game, but the link between—. What we had a discussion about, Bethan, was in relation to an animal abuse register and the link with domestic abuse. I attended a seminar on that and it was very clear that Wales was ahead of the game in drawing those comparisons together.