SENIOR Ceredigion councillors are anticipated to again a name for a ban on stay animals being given as prizes at occasions on council land.
An RSPCA marketing campaign on ‘giving pets as prizes’ by proposing to implement a ban on giving stay animals on council land has been supported by 14 of the 22 Welsh authorities so far, together with neighbouring Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire.
Members of the council’s Healthier Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, assembly on November 22, had been advisable to again the RSPCA name within the county, referring it to Cabinet for a remaining choice.
A report for members said: “Within Ceredigion County Council, the safety and endorsement of excessive requirements of animal welfare is upmost as a part of supporting the farming trade, and to assist those that get pleasure from conserving animals as pets.
“The authority therefore supports the RSPCA campaign on ‘giving pets as prizes’ by proposing to implement a ban on giving live animals on Ceredigion County Council property.”
It added: “While a variety of animals are given as prizes annually in Wales and the remainder of the UK, goldfish are the animal mostly related to pets as prizes.
“Goldfish are simply careworn and fairly often fish which are received as prizes endure miserably from shock, oxygen hunger or die from modifications in water temperature, and lots of will die earlier than their new house owners can get them home.
“Acquiring an animal to be kept as a pet should be the result of careful planning and prior consideration. The prospective owner should have a clear understanding of the responsibilities involved and carefully consider whether they have, and will continue to have, the facilities, time, financial means and level of interest necessary to ensure a satisfactory standard of care for their animal prior to acquiring it.”
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 doesn’t forbid giving stay animals as prizes until they’re given to unaccompanied kids, with totally different, stronger, laws in Scotland.
“The RSPCA believes that this legislation does not go far enough and does not cover the animal welfare issues associated with this practice and therefore, they would like to see similar legislation to the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 introduced in England and Wales; to make it an offence to give an animal as a prize, regardless of age, except within the family context,” the report stated.
“Ceredigion County Council has an opportunity to ban ‘pets as prizes’ on council property, thereby serving to raise public awareness of animal welfare surrounding the giving of live animals as prizes. Therefore, in view of the current legislation, the council can introduce a ban through changing its terms and conditions of the agreements to use council property.”
Members had been informed that it was understood no occasion on council land supplied pets as prizes, and goldfish weren’t given as prizes by the operator of autumn festivals held in Cardigan, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth.
Committee members referred the ban name to Cabinet, with a suggestion it’s supported, the matter anticipated to be heard at its December 5 assembly.
