The text that follows forms the basis of an email sent by CASJ - a highly influential British think tank concerned with animal welfare. It is clear the initiative they are proposing has many similarities to the petition this website is promoting, with perhaps one crucial difference - the CASJ proposal is a member state level proposal, whereas the petition is calling for an EU wide Directorate-General for animal welfare.
The advantage of the CASJ proposal is that every sovereign government has the power to create an animal protection commission; so the proposal can not be defeated on the basis of a lack of power by the relevant authorities to create such a body. This is an advantage in comparison to calling for an EU wide DG. The disadvantage with the CASJ proposal if it is adopted, is that the commission will only have authority within the borders of the given member state (the UK in this case) and will only have limited influence in other countries.
CASJ are supporting the initiative to get the EU to create a DG for animal welfare - and we believe the CASJ proposal is a creditable alternative and an additional approach in the event the EU Commission finds it does not have the "competence" to create the DG which we are calling for.
We would encourage all UK supporters of this petition to visit the CASJ website and to support their important initiative. For those in other countries - consider lobbying your elected representatives or animal welfare charities to get a similar initiative started.
The CASJ proposal follows..........................................................................
Do you ever wonder why our government seems so unwilling or incapable of preventing cruelty to animals? Why do the entreaties of animal charities and the public fall on such deaf ears? If this troubles you as much as it does me, then please support our work to embed animal protection as a major priority of our government and legal system for the first time.
In the last few weeks, a number of developments have further illustrated both our government’s entrenched indifference to animal abuse - and also why the pioneering work of the CASJ is fundamental to the future progress of animal protection:
(1) the failure to honour promises to ban wild animals from the ordeal of circus life
(2) the incomprehensible refusal by a parliamentary committee to support a ban on keeping primates as pets
(3) turning a blind eye to the illegal slaughter of millions of chickens while they are still conscious
(4) abolishing pain and suffering limits in animal experiments, breaking EU law
(5) persisting with the counterproductive, cruel fiasco that is the badger cull
(6) the extremely weak and inadequate sentences handed down to criminals convicted of animal cruelty
As things stand, achieving anything significant for animals is almost impossible. But our award-winning research has discovered that a ‘joined-up’ approach involving deeper, systemic changes is essential if animal protection is to start registering with the government as a significant goal.
To achieve this, we are pushing the political parties to promise a new governmental ‘Animal Protection Commission’ in their 2015 general election manifestos. This would be unique in British history as it would be the first government institution to have a specific duty to protect animals.
Our proposal is of central importance to the work of all animal protection organisations - it represents the key to unlocking progress in the battle against every type of cruelty to animals. So we are busy gathering support for this initiative from fellow pro-animal organisations. We're delighted to announce that nine organisations representing hundreds of thousands of people have joined us so far, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to promote this vital idea.
This whole issue relates to the critical question 'Who is Responsible for Animal Welfare?', which was the topic of a major debate held by the RSPCA a few weeks ago to which we were invited. CASJ researcher Prof Rob Garner has contributed this article on the subject to our Animal Republic blog, arguing that animal welfare has to become the government's responsibility - and not merely a matter of individual moral conscience - if animals are to be effectively protected. If you have any thoughts or comments on this topic, we'd love to hear your feedback on the blog.
Further information is available at http://www.casj.org.uk/news/putting-animal-protection-party-general-election-manifestos/
The advantage of the CASJ proposal is that every sovereign government has the power to create an animal protection commission; so the proposal can not be defeated on the basis of a lack of power by the relevant authorities to create such a body. This is an advantage in comparison to calling for an EU wide DG. The disadvantage with the CASJ proposal if it is adopted, is that the commission will only have authority within the borders of the given member state (the UK in this case) and will only have limited influence in other countries.
CASJ are supporting the initiative to get the EU to create a DG for animal welfare - and we believe the CASJ proposal is a creditable alternative and an additional approach in the event the EU Commission finds it does not have the "competence" to create the DG which we are calling for.
We would encourage all UK supporters of this petition to visit the CASJ website and to support their important initiative. For those in other countries - consider lobbying your elected representatives or animal welfare charities to get a similar initiative started.
The CASJ proposal follows..........................................................................
Do you ever wonder why our government seems so unwilling or incapable of preventing cruelty to animals? Why do the entreaties of animal charities and the public fall on such deaf ears? If this troubles you as much as it does me, then please support our work to embed animal protection as a major priority of our government and legal system for the first time.
In the last few weeks, a number of developments have further illustrated both our government’s entrenched indifference to animal abuse - and also why the pioneering work of the CASJ is fundamental to the future progress of animal protection:
(1) the failure to honour promises to ban wild animals from the ordeal of circus life
(2) the incomprehensible refusal by a parliamentary committee to support a ban on keeping primates as pets
(3) turning a blind eye to the illegal slaughter of millions of chickens while they are still conscious
(4) abolishing pain and suffering limits in animal experiments, breaking EU law
(5) persisting with the counterproductive, cruel fiasco that is the badger cull
(6) the extremely weak and inadequate sentences handed down to criminals convicted of animal cruelty
As things stand, achieving anything significant for animals is almost impossible. But our award-winning research has discovered that a ‘joined-up’ approach involving deeper, systemic changes is essential if animal protection is to start registering with the government as a significant goal.
To achieve this, we are pushing the political parties to promise a new governmental ‘Animal Protection Commission’ in their 2015 general election manifestos. This would be unique in British history as it would be the first government institution to have a specific duty to protect animals.
Our proposal is of central importance to the work of all animal protection organisations - it represents the key to unlocking progress in the battle against every type of cruelty to animals. So we are busy gathering support for this initiative from fellow pro-animal organisations. We're delighted to announce that nine organisations representing hundreds of thousands of people have joined us so far, and we look forward to working with them as we continue to promote this vital idea.
This whole issue relates to the critical question 'Who is Responsible for Animal Welfare?', which was the topic of a major debate held by the RSPCA a few weeks ago to which we were invited. CASJ researcher Prof Rob Garner has contributed this article on the subject to our Animal Republic blog, arguing that animal welfare has to become the government's responsibility - and not merely a matter of individual moral conscience - if animals are to be effectively protected. If you have any thoughts or comments on this topic, we'd love to hear your feedback on the blog.
Further information is available at http://www.casj.org.uk/news/putting-animal-protection-party-general-election-manifestos/