Sentience and Welfare of Animals
Debate between Neale Hanvey and Allan Dorans(4 years, 8 months ago)
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Allan Dorans
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention and totally agree with her sentiments. It is my view that we need to enshrine the protection of animals in law.
Neale Hanvey
Anyone who has had a pet and loved them, with that relationship having built up over the years, knows that that creature is sentient. Does my hon. Friend share my frustration that sentience has been described as some unnecessary additional clause to be added to legislation and ascribed as an ornament on a Christmas tree? Does he agree that sentience is surely not an additional ornament, but a central and fundamental tenet of any legislation? The analogy of sentience being an ornament is so inaccurate because sentience is the tree—the central component of animal welfare. Does he also agree that, in line with the Scottish animal welfare commission, that should be a central part of policy making in Westminster?