EDM 480 'Animal Protection Policy'
EDM 480 calls on the
Government to establish an Animal Protection Commission or similar
government body responsible for reviewing and implementing all
policies regarding animal welfare and rights.
Existing government
bodies that affect the interests and welfare of millions of animals
have become dominated by industries and institutions that use animals
and cause them suffering. Animal protection has been sacrificed
in the drive for corporate profit, and dissenting voices have been
excluded from the decision-making process. An Animal Protection
Commission would give a voice to the millions of animals affected
by government policy, and would finally bring big business to account.
In each department of government, secretive and exclusive policy
communities, comprised of civil servants and powerful business
and professional interest groups, take important decisions that
further the interests of the animal research industry and animal
farming. Animal protection advocates are excluded from policy formation,
at best being drafted in to create a false sense of legitimacy
when decisions have already been made.
Nowhere is the collusion between government and those involved
in the abuse of animals more obvious than in the case of vivisection.
Over the past year the Home Office has worked exclusively with
companies involved in animal testing to strip away regulations
and make vivisectors’ jobs easier.
Elsewhere, in farming, the government has refused to outlaw the
keeping of chickens in battery cages, despite overwhelming support
for such a ban from the public and animal protection groups, and
despite the positive reforms undertaken abroad.
Existing structures of governance have become subservient to corporate
lobby groups, and reform is needed. The formation of an Animal
Protection Committee would demonstrate a renewed commitment to
animal protection, backed up by real legislative power.
This is the text of EDM 480:
"That this House notes the growing
body of scientific evidence showing animals to have complex mental
and emotional lives; considers all vertebrates and possibly some
invertebrates to be conscious, feeling beings with an interest
in living, avoiding suffering and experiencing pleasure; acknowledges
that each animal has inherent value and is worthy of serious moral
consideration; considers respect for animals to be indicative of
the level of civilisation; is concerned that policy-making is led
by industries that inevitably compromise animals' welfare and interests,
and thus the most essential interests of animals and the public's
concern for their protection are given insufficient consideration;
endorses the Prime Minister's call for constitutional reform
that 'entrusts more power to Parliament and the British people';
notes that there is no Government body whose primary purpose
is to protect the interests of animals in policy-making; and
calls upon the Government to establish an Animal Protection Commission
or similar body, answerable to Parliament via a Minister, with
a remit which includes the ongoing examination of the ethical
status and rights of animals and how they are affected by policy-making,
the facilitation of genuine public participation throughout policy
processes which affect animals, and the development of a cross-Government
agenda for animal protection."
Click here to lobby your MP on EDM
480 now!
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