Introducing penalty notices for animal health and welfare offences in England:
DEFRA are seeking your views on the government’s proposed implementation of penalty notices for animal health and welfare offences in England.
This Consultation is open until 20th July 2023
DEFRA want to know your views on the scope of animal health and welfare offences that could be covered by penalty notices and elements on how the penalty regime might work in practice to ensure the guidance is clear and transparent to enforcers and the general public and write:
In April 2022, the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act “the Act” was passed in Parliament. The Act provides the powers to introduce penalty notices in England for relevant animal health and welfare offences (and in Wales for offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991).
The Act states that the Secretary of State may through regulations, prescribe offences as relevant offences for the purposes of this Act.
The Act requires the Secretary of State to make regulations to ‘switch on’ the penalty notices option for relevant offences under the primary legislation listed in the Act itself and all secondary legislation made under those primary legislation.
We are consulting on two elements:
1. Which range of offences could be “switched on” and be under the scope of the penalty notices regime
2. How penalty notices will work in practice.
We believe that these new and proportionate financial penalties for animal health and welfare offences could add to, and complement, the current enforcement regime to support early behaviour change to promote compliance and better protect the nation’s animals.
