Vertebrates have feelings: England enshrines it in law
The British government is enshrining in law that all vertebrates with a spinal cord also have the capacity to feel.
The capacity to feel applies to vertebrates, “all those that have a spinal cord”, said Environment Minister George Eustice.
The law is set to be announced on 11 May 2021 by Queen Elizabeth II in her traditional Queen's Speech. It emphasises that animals are aware of their feelings and emotions and are capable of experiencing joy and pleasure as well as suffering and pain. The British government wants to make the country a pioneer in animal rights, with the legislation considered the centrepiece of the strategy.
Penalties for animal cruelty are set to increase from six months to a maximum of five years in prison. Further bills would ban the import of hunting trophies, the export of live animals, and the keeping of primates as pets.
England's animal welfare strategy
The animal welfare strategy also includes the government's aim to ban fur imports and to introduce a requirement for microchipping of domestic cats. The killing of pigs by gassing with carbon dioxide is also set to be ended.
Brexit as an opportunity for animal protection?
Minister Eustice called the initiative an “important signal to the world». Many of these changes, such as the ban on live animal exports, had only become possible as a result of Britain's departure from the EU, he claimed.
Boris Johnson was the first Prime Minister to embed animal welfare in government policy, said Eustice. Critics are of the opinion that Johnson is championing animal rights primarily due to the personal views of his fiancée Carrie Symonds. More on the topic of hunting legislation worldwide.
