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Looking after your animal
The Animal Welfare Act, which came into force last year, is the
most significant new law on animal welfare for 94 years.
Under the Act, it is against the law to be cruel to an animal
and anyone who is responsible for an animal or pet has a legal
responsibility to meet five basic welfare needs.
These are to provide:
- a proper diet, including fresh water
- somewhere suitable to live
- the facility to be housed with, or apart from, other
animals
- the ability to express normal behaviour
- protection from and treatment of pain, injury, suffering and
disease.
The Act also bans the docking of dogs' tails for cosmetic
reasons and does not allow anyone under the age of 16 to buy an
animal.
Under the Animal Welfare Act it is possible for anyone to bring
criminal proceedings if there is reason to believe that unnecessary
suffering has been caused or if an animal’s welfare needs have not
been met. However, only local councils or the police have formal
powers of entry and seizure under the Animal Welfare Act. For more
information on this act visit the pages on our
website>>
So long, it’s bin good
After almost 20 years of valuable service, the red dog waste
bins seen in parks and recreation grounds across the borough are to
be phased out. However, this does not mean you should stop picking
up your dog mess or that there will be nowhere to put wrapped dog
waste as this can be put into any litter bin.
The first dog bins were installed on Hayling Island in 1990 with
a further 150 installed into 48 parks and open spaces across the
borough, and were an immediate success, with over 25 metric tonnes
of dog waste collected per year. 1990 also saw the introduction of
the Environmental Protection Act which gave some of the first
practical powers to prosecute people dropping litter and not
cleaning up after their dogs. This has since been updated by the
Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act in 2005 which has given
councils the powers to issue fixed penalty notices instead.
Most of the red dog waste bins are still in good condition, so
this change will be very gradual and there should not be a
reduction in bins unless a litter bin and dog bin are close
together. We will also be placing stickers on litter bins about the
change over and putting additional reminders in Serving You.