BVA President Welcomes Weapon Dogs Bill
The annual British Veterinary Association, (BVA), Scottish dinner, held at the Scottish Parliament last Thursday, heard BVA President, Nicky Paull praise the introduction of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill. Mrs Paull welcomed a Bill that, she said: "focuses on the animal's behaviour rather than its breed," and hoped that other UK countries would follow Scotland's lead in tackling the "spiralling problem of status dogs – or weapon dogs."
Mrs Paull went on to describe the new Bill as a huge leap forward in dealing with the inadequacies of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.
The Bill to modernise the law on out of control and dangerous dogs was lodged with the Scottish Parliament in March by Scottish National Party, (SNP) MSP Christine Grahame who heads the Cross-Party Group on Animal Welfare. Ms. Grahame took over and reintroduced the Bill after Alex Neil MSP, the member who first proposed the Bill, became Minister for Communities.
Although it is farm animal issues that hit the headlines, the majority of BVA members are in companion animal practice and much of our work therefore will focus on them. With that in mind I am delighted to highlight the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Equidae, which came into force in April this year. This is the first welfare code in Scotland made to benefit companion animals and we hope there’s more where this came from. There is an ongoing need to promote the responsibility of pet ownership for a wide range of animals.
On horses, both the BVA and our specialist division BEVA (the British Equine Veterinary Association) have welcomed the requirement for foals to be microchipped and see this as an opportunity to ban hot branding as a means of identification. This is a position that may be controversial in some quarters, but we are clear that the welfare of the animal must dictate the policy.
Another companion animal issue that is coming to the fore in Scotland is dangerous dogs, with the introduction of the Control of Dogs (Scotland) Bill by Christine Grahame, MSP for South of Scotland (who unfortunately is unable to join us this evening).
Christine has taken on the work started by Alex Neil MSP to bring a bill that focuses on the animal’s behaviour rather than its breed. This is a fantastic example of BVA policy being put into practice and we’re grateful to both Christine and Alex for taking a huge leap forward in dealing with the inadequacies of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act. We wish you well with the passage of the bill. With the spiralling problem of status dogs – or weapon dogs I see they are now called – our hope must be that the other devolved governments will look again at their current legislative processes in this area and perhaps look to Scotland as a lead in this.
Over the last couple of months the BVA has been consulting its members on Defra proposals for responsibility and cost sharing between the government and industry, and the specific proposal for a new body for animal health policy in England.
The more I talk about the proposals in speeches and interviews, the more complex they become. I hope you have all had the chance to look at the proposals and if you haven’t I urge you to do so – both farmers and vets here in Scotland. This consultation has the potential to completely rewrite how policy is developed and how delivery systems are planned. It may well seem on the surface that the plans will only affect animal health and welfare in England but I assure you that the reality couldn’t be more different.
I’d like to make it clear that the BVA has always supported the principle of sharing the responsibility and costs associated with disease management, as long as it comes with a genuine partnership between government and industry. As usual, our concerns about the current proposals lie in the detail of how it will be achieved. I could have devoted my entire speech to this issue, but I know we all want to hear from the Minister so for now I would just like to flag up our concerns regarding how the new structure will fit in with devolution and the need for a system across Great Britain which recognises that disease knows no boundaries. As they stand, the proposals are unclear on the role for the CVOs in Scotland and Wales as well as potentially putting at risk the single line command structure necessary for dealing with major disease outbreaks.
When dealing with disease incursions that put livestock across the whole of Great Britain at risk we have to have sound policy and a delivery system in disease control, which can be developed rapidly and are clear to all. The fragmented approach that the RCS consultation offers is a great concern to the veterinary profession as a whole. It should be a concern to those in government as well.
We are very interested to hear views from ministers on how the proposals will affect Scotland and urge you to make your voices heard in Defra.
Responsibility and cost sharing cannot be viewed in a bubble. A number of the issues raised by the consultation link directly to the general question of veterinary service provision and on that note I’m delighted that Professor Lowe is here this evening.
As you’ll know, Professor Lowe has been heading up the Defra working group on vets and vet services, which the BVA has actively been a part of. Professor Lowe’s report is due to be published shortly and while I can’t go into too much detail here I can confirm that it will set out a number of challenges for the veterinary profession throughout the UK.
Happily for Scotland the report notes research commissioned by the Scottish Government last year that questioned farmers and vets on the provision of services. The research found 97% of farmers said their vet met all their needs and 91% are satisfied with the vet.
However, before we all get too content, a third of farmers felt their vet did not add value and perhaps this is the area that we as a profession need to concentrate our efforts.
We also come back to the age old question of veterinary services in rural and remote areas. At last year’s dinner we heard about the reduction in the number of vet practices providing services to farms; instead choosing to concentrate on companion animal work. As a vital part of implementing on-farm animal health plans, the profession must look again at how we tackle this decrease, and I hope Professor Lowe’s report might prove to be the catalyst for that review. But we cannot do this in isolation and I would urge farmers and their representative bodies to also work with the profession in planning a future where farms across Scotland can continue to receive the services they require.
Still on the topic of rural areas, the Highland and Islands Veterinary Services Schemes continues to support the crofters and the Crofting Counties to make veterinary services more available in the remoter areas. This service still plays in an important role for livestock keepers in this area and long may it continue. I can announce this evening that Dr Freda Scott-Park will be taking Sandy’s place as the liaison between the veterinary practices that work in the areas of the Highland and Island schemes and those in Edinburgh who run the scheme. I know Sandy will be a tough act to follow but I can assure you that Freda does tough very well!
I’d like to end this speech by returning to devolution and making a shameless plug for BVA Congress 2009 to be held in Cardiff on 24th to 26th September. Don’t worry – it will be Scotland in 2010!
This year’s theme is ‘Together Forever?’ asking what devolution in Britain means for animal health and welfare and its impact on the veterinary profession as a whole. And we are looking forward to ending our Congress this year with a question and answer session involving a panel made up of the four devolved CVOs. I am certain the substance of many of the questions asked of them will centre on how, between us all, we can continue to deliver the best animal health and welfare for the single epidemiological unit that is Great Britain.
But without pre-empting the debate too much, I shall just point out that as a relatively small profession I believe we have been very successful in keeping the lines of communication open across the national borders in order to share best practice and innovation in veterinary science and strengthen our links with ministers and industry across the four nations. And I am sure we will continue to do so.
ENDS
Notes for Editors:
1. The BVA Annual Scottish Dinner provides an opportunity for the veterinary profession to discuss issues of animal welfare, animal health and food safety of particular importance to Scotland with other key representatives of the agri-food industry, political leaders and opinion formers.
2. For further information, please contact the BVA Press Office on 020 7908 6340 or media@bva.co.uk
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