Animal Law Day 2023

The Animal Welfare Group at 42BR is proud to support and celebrate A-Law’s initiative in announcing the first Animal Law Day on 22 July 2022.

Throughout this first ‘Animal Law Week’ members of the team have shared their thoughts on current and future Animal Welfare legislation, as well as their reasons for joining the group.

But what is Animal Law Day and why should we recognise it?

In 1822, some 200 years ago, Parliament passed the first legislation in the UK protecting animals from deliberate acts of cruelty. The statute became known as Martin’s Act, after it’s sponsor, Richard Martin MP. The legislation only protected a limited number of species from certain types of abuse but it was a step in the right direction for the welfare of animals.

Richard Martin advocated for the rights of animals in Parliament, often being ridiculed for doing so. His peers in Parliament deemed the protection of animals an unworthy subject of Parliament’s attention he continued his attempts to block acts such as bull baiting and dog fighting.

Richard Martin MP was also an instrumental figure in the foundation of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), the forerunner of the modern day, RSPCA.

200 years on

While many may argue that Animal Welfare legislation has improved substantially over the last two centuries, noting the implementation of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, we are often reminded within Chambers that there is still a way to go.

Damian Woodward-Carlton KC, presented a webinar with Edie Bowles of Advocates for Animals which focused on the lack of enforcement regarding farmed animals. They discussed ‘The Enforcement Problem Report’, and why there is a need for more to be done to ensure animal laws are applied in practice. You can watch their webinar here.

Marcia Hyde also hosted a webinar with Paula Sparks of A-Law, which discussed prospective legislation, particularly the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill; the Hunting Trophies Prohibition Bill and the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill. View the webinar here. Since the webinar, the Government dropped the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) from its legislative programme. Many proposed protections were therefore lost. Our Marketing Manager, Sophie Hicks, wrote a short summary of the Bill which set them out, which can be viewed here.

Paul Fuller, a member of the Animal Welfare team, recently wrote an article for Barrister magazine, outlining ‘Animal Law: past, present and possible future’. Within his article he pens ‘Law firms and barristers’ chambers offering specialist animal law services are few and far between. They exist and are on the rise but are still a rare beast (pardon the pun).’ Which is why Marcia Hyde formed the group within 42BR. We wanted to create a practice area that held the welfare of animals at it’s core. You may not realise but there are aspects of animal welfare in multiple different practice areas. For example, the welfare of a dog within a violent relationship (Marcia presented a webinar on this matter last year), the change in the Renters (Reform) Act which gives renters more rights to keep pets (Paul wrote an article on the subject) or even a personal injury claim against a cattle who injures a human for entering a sign posted field housing their young.

Our group within Chambers comprises barristers with specialist experience across the full spectrum of practice areas, who are keen to use this knowledge to improve the welfare of animals. We recently presented a webinar showcasing how animal welfare can be applied to different practice areas, which can be viewed here.

21st Jul 2023