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New trade deals with the United States and China could impact animal welfare in the UK
In December last year a heated debate was launched in the UK over an article published in the Independent. In it the journalist reported that the Tories have voted that animals can’t feel pain, thus animal sentience won’t be recognised in the EU Withdraw bill.
Animal sentience is important because it formulates they way animals are perceived. Maria Andonova, a Trakia University Veterinary Medicine graduate, explains: “It’s the ability of a being to feel and operate a reactive conscience. Animals are capable of feeling pain and reacting to external irritants.”
The Independent article and what was said in it was quickly denied by the government and was branded as “fake news”, but the cat was out of the box. After a massive backlash from social media and different farming and animal protecting organisation, the government was forced to take action.
James West, senior policy manager at Compassion for World Farming, says that these issues have been discussed among environmentalists before and previous petitions have been handed to the Parliament, but they lacked the current public support. “It’s a good thing the media brought the issue to light, because now the government is pressured not only by us but also by the public,” he says.
“It’s a good thing the media brought the issue to light, because now the government is pressured not only by us but also by the public”
UK Secretary of State for Environment Michael Gove published a short draft bill which was supposed to go under consultation, which closed at the end of January. It is now expected to be reconstructed and published again, but at the moment there is no given date of when this is going to happen.
In the meantime, the issue has been turned into a political game by the opposition, when Labour published a 50-point plan of policies to improve animal welfare, which includes banning foie gras and possibly forcing landlords to accept tenants with pets.
The situation with animal welfare after Brexit continues to be on hold and it is unclear when it is going to be resolved.
Pavlena Todorova