Can irresponsible breeders be made criminally liable?

The BVA is to be congratulated on its continuing proactive and authoritative efforts to highlight the problems of inherited conditions arising from irresponsible breeding, especially in relation to dogs. Members may therefore have been encouraged by the – apparently unqualified – statement from Defra reported in last weekend’s Sunday Times that ‘Anyone knowingly breeding animals with genetic defects could be considered to be committing an offence under the 2006 [Animal Welfare] Act’.1 There is no indication of the provision under which Defra considers such a prosecution might be brought, but one assumes it would be either section 4 (unnecessary suffering) or 9 (duty of a person responsible for an animal to ensure its welfare). If this presumption is correct, then the question arises as to the nature of the conduct which constitutes the offence and the instant when it is committed. Clearly it is not when the...
Source: Veterinary Record - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Tags: Letters and notices Source Type: research