Animal sentience is a victory all round
ANIMAL sentience is the concept that all animals are sentient, can think and feel, and experience pain, fear and joy, just like human beings.
That is why it is so important, and is a foundation stone of basic morality. When the Government accepts animal sentience it becomes possible to prevent cruelty and neglect. But it is a principle anyway – animals have feelings – something most of us accept.
It took many years for an EU petition (with one million signatures) to establish animal sentience within the old EU. But it was revealed in July 2017 that the British Government had decided to disregard this principle, following Brexit. Animal rights supporters mobilised and began a new campaign, following which in December 2017 the government agreed to the legality of the principle.
However, a parliamentary committee questioned the wording of the new Bill, and it was mysteriously delayed and dropped. Champions of farm animals, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and other NGOs, mobilised 100,000 people behind a petition to Parliament creating a debate in the House of Commons. The plot thickens, because on January 1, 2021, when the UK formally left the EU, the legalisation of animal sentience ended. The campaign continued and in May 2021 the British government did legalise the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill.
The Bill met most of the demands of CIWF, enshrining in law the principle of animal sentience and compelling ministers to respect this in all future policy. Also, it even exceeded the good intentions of the EU by creating an independent Animal Sentience Committee to police future government policy. The Bill also exceeded expectations by observing the sentience of decapods and cephalopods – lobsters, octopus and crabs. There was one amendment and it received royal assent on April 28. CIWF is planning to police the Animal Sentience
Committee, to make certain it functions as claimed.
This is a great victory for the welfare and husbandry of all forms of life. It is a victory for the human race. A foundation stone of righteousness has been created. It is proof that if we unite, we can make the world a better place.
Mr J Bucke
Cefn Glas, Bridgend