Gamebird Code: Public Was Ignored
30 March 2010
The Government's gamebird code was changed at the last minute against overwhelming advice from the public, it emerged today.
An official summary of responses to the public consultation on Defra's Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/gamebirds/index.htm, published this morning, reveals that:
- Only one response out of over 2000 called for a ban on mixing incoming birds 'for the entire breeding season', yet that is what the Government has imposed.
- Only one response out of over 2000 called for the requirement to inspect gamebirds to be increased, yet the Government has doubled it.
- Just 2 respondents appear to have been unhappy about the use of bits, yet the code now says that their use should not be considered 'routine'.
- Three quarters of respondents supported the use of enriched cages, whilst only a handful wanted space allowances, yet the Government put space allowances into the code.
Jonathan Crow, Chairman of the Game Farmers' Association (GFA) said:
"We now know just how rotten a piece of bad governance this has been. Defra's own report reveals there was next to no call for the changes the Government imposed on gamebird rearers by altering the code at the last minute. For the Government to have made those changes against the earlier advice of its own Gamebird Working Group, and the report it commissioned from the Farm Animal Welfare Council, would have been bad enough. To do so against the overwhelming views of the public as well is just undemocratic."
In the light of today's revelations, the GFA has written to the animal welfare Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick, repeating its call for the code to be withdrawn from Parliament for further consideration.
"A proper response to the views expressed by the public would be a good place to start," said Jonathan Crow.
ENDS
Notes:
The GFA supports the concept of a code for all game rearers and welcomed the draft circulated for consultation, but it has condemned the final code, laid before Parliament on 15 March, as "unworkable" because of last minute changes made by Government. See: http://www.gfa.org.uk/gfa-news/11/
The late changes to the code were not subject to any published Government impact assessment. The GFA has produced its own provisional assessment which shows that 43% of partridge and 6% of pheasant egg production in England could be affected by the late changes to the code, at a cost of millions of pounds. See: http://www.gfa.org.uk/gfa-news/12/
Date Added: March 30th 2010