Animal Welfare Legislation - Find a freedom of information request

I would like to request the following information on the enforcement of animal health, animal welfare and equine legislation from 2017 to the present date.

1. Which of the below legislation do you actively enforce, and which department/team is responsible for it?

• Animals Act 1971 (as amended by The Control of Horses Act 2015)
• Equine identification (England) Regulations 2018
• Animal Welfare Act 2006
• Animal Health Act 1981 and 2002
• Animal Welfare (Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, including ‘hiring out horses’
• Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1990
• Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 2006

2. Do you have a dedicated resource for animal welfare and/or animal health legislation and, if you do, how many people does this include?

3. How many times were the pieces of legislation listed above enforced for equines, if not possible could this be given for all animals, (if possible, could this answer be given separately for each piece of legislation) in:

• 2017
• 2018
• 2019 to-date

4. If known, could you state the cost associated with enforcing this legislation for equines (or for all animals if not known). This could be either in total or, if possible, separately for each piece of legislation for the below dates. If this is not feasible would you be able to give an approximate total figure or state as an approximate percentage of your total budget?

• 2017
• 2018
• 2019 to-date

5. In the event of a disease outbreak, what resources do you have to trace animals and control the spread of the disease? Are these resources equally available for all livestock and equine species?

6. What training do those who are enforcing this legislation receive, including anything specific for equines?

7. How many years’ experience, on average, do those who are enforcing the legislation listed above have with equine specific legislation or working with equines?

1. Lincolnshire County Council Safer communities Service enforce the following legislation:

• Equine identification (England) Regulations 2018
• Animal Welfare Act 2006
• Animal Health Act 1981 and 2002
• Animal Health Act 1981 and 2002
• Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 2006

2. Lincolnshire Safer Communities Service does not have dedicated Animal Health & Welfare Officers. All Trading Standards Officers are generalist officers and cover Animal Health Duties as part of their role and as such are authorised to enforce the legislation highlighted in question 1.
The amount of time and resource dedicated to Animal Health depends upon the demand on the Service at that time. There are currently 25.92 full time equivalent Trading Standards Officers.

3.
2017

• Equine ID Regs not in force in this year – 0
• Animal Welfare Act 2006 – we do not deal with horse welfare, any horse welfare complaints are passed to the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.
• Animal Health Act – 0
• Welfare of Animals at Markets Order – we have no horse markets in the county – 0
• All other legislation – All animals 297

2018

• Equine ID Regs not in force in this year – 0
• Animal Welfare Act 2006 – we do not deal with horse welfare, any horse welfare complaints are passed to the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.
• Animal Health Act – 0
• Welfare of Animals at Markets Order – we have no horse markets in the county – 0
• All other legislation – All animals 297

2019 to-date

• Animal Welfare Act 2006 – we do not deal with horse welfare, any horse welfare complaints are passed to the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare.
• Animal Health Act – 0
• Welfare of Animals at Markets Order – we have no horse markets in the county – 0
• All other legislation – All animals 201

4. The figure is unknown. This information is not recorded within the service and so in not reportable.

5. The Service has access to the main databases used to record livestock movements (cattle, sheep and pigs) and access to the new horse database. Resources would be found to deal with notifiable disease outbreaks from within the Trading Standards Service, and if necessary other Services within the County Council.

6. General training is provided both in-house and through external courses which cover the legislation enforced.

7. The levels may vary between each post holder. This information is not recorded within the service and so in not reportable.