Good News On Animal Welfare Legislation Review
ACRES 
Apr 26, 2013 
ACRES, NGOs 
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We are delighted to announce that MND has accepted the 24 recommendations from the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee that ACRES sits on! It is a fantastic day for the animals!
Many of you have written to me or attended the Chong Pang Animal Welfare Forums Ive hosted over the past 2 years, to share your concerns with me about animal welfare issues. Many of us have discussed your concerns with MND, AVA and the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee (AWLRC) and have been working closely with several animal welfare groups to implement changes.
The government has responded positively to your concerns. Today, MND announced that they have accepted all 24 recommendations (listed below) from the AWLRC including amending the Animals and Birds Act (ABA) with increased fines and jail terms, community service and prohibition orders.
This is something many of you have called for and once the Bill is passed in Parliament, it will be a significant step forward for the animal welfare movement in Singapore. There are many more issues we need to address and we will continue to work on them, and I look forward to your constructive feedback at our next Chong Pang Animal Welfare Forum.
Recommendations from AWLRC:
1. Amend the ABA to require the owner or person in charge of the animal to comply with a duty of care for the animal.
2. Amend the ABA to clearly define that duty of care by the owner or person in charge of the animal is meeting the needs of the animal and what constitutes the animals needs.
3. Amend the ABA to enable codes of animal welfare to be adopted by the government to set standards for animal welfare in Singapore.
4. Further build awareness and understanding of animal behaviour in anyone who deals with animals.
5. Amend the ABA to provide powers for the government to specify restricted acts to be performed on animals.
6. Amend the ABA to make attempts to cause or subject an animal to cruelty an offence.
7. Amend the ABA to provide powers for the government to issue directives to persons to improve the care of an animal.
8. Amend the ABA to provide a tiered penalty structure with increased fines and jail terms, community service and prohibition orders, as well as a distinct penalty structure for corporate bodies.
9. Implement initiatives to encourage witnesses of suspected animal welfare and cruelty cases to come forward to assist in the investigation and to testify in court. This should include publicising the type of evidence witnesses can provide.
10. Actively raise the profile of successfully prosecuted animal welfare and cruelty cases to act as a deterrent.
11. Amend the ABA to require operators and staff of all other pet-related businesses in addition to pet shops and pet farms to undergo appropriate training on animal care and handling. In line with this, the current training curriculum should be reviewed and updated.
12. Set a minimum age of 16 years old for buying a pet and include this requirement as a condition of licensing for pet shops and pet farms selling pets.
13. Include presale screening as a condition of licensing for pet shops and pet farms selling pets.
14. Increase publicity on pet shop grades, conditions of pet shop licensing and best practises, and publish cases of recalcitrant pet shop offenders to help pet buyers make informed decisions when buying pets.
15. License commercial pet breeding activities. This means breeding activities outside of pet farms to also be regulated.
16. License pet boarding facilities providing overnight or longer stay for pets.
17. Implement industry-led accreditation schemes for pet groomers, pet farms and breeders, as well as pet shops. The accreditation guidelines would be above and beyond regulatory requirements.
18. Increase stakeholder collaboration on RPO education of pet owners and would-be pet buyers.
19. Further develop and extend mediation-cum-engagement programmes through multi-stakeholder collaboration for implementation in various areas and constituencies to help resolve animal-related local disputes.
20. Enhance awareness and educate the public on their proper behaviours towards animals to minimise misunderstanding between pet owners and the community, and better manage animal-human conflicts.
21. Raise awareness through multi-stakeholder collaboration on other recommendations in this report (e.g. requirement for duty of care, codes of animal welfare when formulated, new requirements relating to pet businesses, list of licensed pet boarding facilities, etc).
22. Where feasible and appropriate, Residents Committees could consider setting up neighbourhood watch groups on animal-related matters, as well as organise animal welfare-related awareness activities.
23. Align the definition of animals in the Road Traffic Act with the definition in the ABA.
24. Establish a multi-stakeholder collaboration committee on animal welfare, comprising representatives from the government, industry, community, animal welfare groups and the veterinary profession. The terms of reference of this committee will be to build up mutual understanding on animal welfare through sharing of views and to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration to promote animal welfare in Singapore.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=530054877041047&set=a.530054870374381.1073741840.203314719715066&type=1
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