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Politicians behaving like a pack of animals

Vic Barlow
22/ 2/2006

IT'S not often parliament passes judgement on something of which we have intimate knowledge, more often than not the issues are complex and we assume their understanding is greater than our own. So, it came as something of a shock to read extracts from the proposed Animal Welfare Bill. As a dog trainer I was horrified to read of the ban on tail docking.

Anyone who has ever seen a spaniel at work will know the blood, pain and suffering caused by an undocked tail. No responsible owner would ever allow such a thing but the Animal Welfare Bill insists that they do.

Obviously the government see this as a populist vote grabber 'Look how much we care for animals' when in actual fact it's likely to cause a great deal of suffering.

As an animal lover and committed dog trainer I could think of one very simple way to improve animal welfare: Make prospective owners pass a basic understanding test BEFORE acquiring the animal of their choice. I can assure you there would be a lot less abandoned pets.

Today most pet owners acquire whatever knowledge they have from Disney and are dismayed when they discover: dogs are 'loyal' only to themselves, cats kill things and ponies can be wildly unpredictable. These are the facts that need to be understood.

Forcing dogs to work with bleeding tails is just plain stupid but it does make you wonder: If government ministers are so utterly clueless about animal welfare what do they actually know about more complex issues? Remember these were the people who led us to war in Iraq.

Sobering thought isn't it.

• THE views expressed on this page are those of Vic Barlow and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Express.