6. What action is the Welsh Government taking to improve animal welfare? OQ56379

Animal welfare and the responsible ownership of animals are priorities for the Welsh Government, and we are committed to ensuring high standards of welfare are maintained. We are proactively involved in a number of different initiatives to further support and reinforce these standards in the short and long-term future.

Can I thank the Minister for that response? How we treat animals is an indication of the type of society we are. Whilst the Welsh Government has made substantial progress in ensuring an improved version of Lucy's law is brought in this month, what proposals does the Welsh Government have to ban the owning of primates, bringing CCTV in for abattoirs, and improving the welfare of rabbits and horses?

I'm pleased Mike Hedges referred to Lucy's law, although I do keep saying that we are going beyond Lucy's law; it's the third-party sales of puppies and kittens, and we will be debating that in the Senedd in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, many of the policy development work streams within my portfolio in relation to animal health and welfare have had to take a lower priority over the past 12 months, for obvious reasons, with the COVID-19 pandemic and leaving the European Union, but my officials are working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a number of areas where it may be beneficial to have a UK approach. So, you mentioned CCTV in abattoirs, for instance. My stance on that is the same: I recognise the potential benefits, and it's not been ruled out. I am confident that we'll be able to bring forward new regulations on licensing of animal activities in Wales, and that's been the right priority focus at the time. We do have statutory codes of practice for many species of animals in Wales, both farm and domestic, and they are regularly reviewed and updated. 

Minister, in your response to Mike Hedges there, you didn't mention the welfare of animals in zoos and animal attractions around Wales. You'll be familiar with the fact that I've been calling for some time now for a zoos support fund in Wales. They've got them in other parts of the United Kingdom and, indeed, elsewhere in Europe, but Wales is yet to establish a zoos support fund in order to ensure that animals in our zoos during this lockdown period can get the high-quality welfare that they deserve without those organisations having to raid their reserves or their savings, which they put aside for investment in their businesses. Can you tell us what your latest thinking is on whether to establish a Welsh zoos support fund, particularly given that the fund would also ensure the important work that zoos and animal attractions do with regard to conservation and breeding, which is also now being affected as a result of the lack of a fund here in Wales?

Well, we don't need a specific zoo support scheme in Wales, because our zoos were able to access funding from the economic resilience fund, which, obviously, was unique to Wales. So, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the zoos applied for funding from the ERF and were obviously successful. So, whilst I appreciate other countries in the UK had a specific zoo support scheme, I think, if you actually look, our zoos probably—some of them, certainly—had more funding than they would have got if it had been a support scheme in another country.

Question 7 [OQ56402] is withdrawn. Question 8—Alun Davies.