Why is Current Legislation Not Protecting These Animals?

It is clear from our investigation that a vast number and diversity of wild animals are legally being kept or trained for exhibition or performance in Great Britain. These non-domesticated animals, adapted to life in complex wild environments, are frequently housed in unsuitable conditions, handled by unfamiliar people, and exposed to unfamiliar and unnatural environments in the course of their exhibition. These practices pose a high risk to the health and welfare of the animals involved. So why is this being allowed to happen under current legislation in Great Britain?

1. Deficiencies of the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 In Scotland and Wales, operators need only register with their Local Authority in order to exhibit or train performing wild animals under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925.8 This is a one-off registration and no inspection process is required.8 Any vertebrate animal may be registered, and the registration can only be prohibited or restricted where it is proved to the satisfaction of a court on a complaint by a constable or Local Authority officer that the training or exhibition of any performing animal has been ‘accompanied by cruelty’, although what constitutes ‘cruelty’ is not defined within the Act.8 The legislation does not include a definition for performing animals or exhibition, nor does it include examples of in-scope activities; these are significant omissions, resulting in many operators not being covered by the legislation.

The lack of a requirement for an inspection process in legislation is clearly problematic, and many Local Authorities choose to inspect premises regardless. Fifteen Local Authorities in Scotland and ten Local Authorities in Wales reported that they would carry out an inspection when an application is made under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925. A further two Local Authorities in Scotland, and three in Wales, reported that the decision to carry out an inspection depended on information included in the application, and one Local Authority in Scotland reported that inspections are carried out but not routinely. Three Local Authorities in Scotland, and five Local Authorities in Wales, reported that they do not carry out an inspection when an application is made under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925. A further two Local Authorities in Scotland reported that no applications had been received so they either did not have a policy on the matter or did not carry out inspections.

Seventeen of the 18 Local Authorities in Scotland, and 12 of the 13 Local Authorities in Wales, which reported that they either carry out inspections, or may depending on the circumstances, provided us with information regarding inspectors used. Inspectors would either be Local Authority officers (16 Local Authorities) or vets (three Local Authorities), or a combination of Local Authority officers and vets (10 Local Authorities).

These findings, coupled with the identification of multiple animal welfare and other issues on the inspection reports provided to us by Local Authorities in Scotland and Wales, demonstrate a clear need for a mandatory inspection process for operators exhibiting animals in Scotland and Wales.

The Welsh government held a consultation in 2020 on proposals to replace the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 with legislation similar to the LAIA Regulations 2018 in England and, in 2021, the Welsh government committed to developing a national model for regulation of animal welfare which would introduce registration for animal exhibits, amongst other measures.66,67 There appears to be no immediate plan to replace the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 in Scotland, although consideration of the issue is on the workplan for Scotland's Animal Welfare Commission in the longer term.68 2. Deficiencies of the LAIA Regulations 2018 From 1st October 2018, the LAIA Regulations 2018 replaced the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925 in England.7 The LAIA Regulations 2018 are a significant improvement on the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925, providing a clear definition of in-scope and out-of-scope activities, guidance notes for Local Authorities on the keeping and training of animals for exhibition in the form of licence conditions, and requiring an inspection to be undertaken prior to the granting of a licence and prior to licence renewal (every 3 years).11 However, our assessment of the legislation and inspection reports provided by Local Authorities in England highlighted a number of serious concerns in relation to wild animals:

Specialist knowledge of operators:

• Wild animals have complex needs which are challenging to meet in captive environments. However, there is no requirement for keepers or trainers of wild animals for exhibition licensed under the LAIA Regulations 2018 to have qualifications and formal training in the health and welfare of the animals for which they are licensed.

• General licence condition 4.1 requires that sufficient numbers of people who are competent for the purpose must be available to provide a level of care that ensures that the welfare needs of all the animals are met; and general licence condition 4.2 requires that the licence holder, or a designated manager, and any staff employed to care for the animals must have competence to identify the normal behaviour of the species for which they are caring, and to recognise signs of, and take appropriate measures to mitigate or prevent, pain, suffering, injury, disease or abnormal behaviour.11 • For more than 50 operators, we found that experience of keeping animals (and experience of selling or exhibiting animals in some cases) and/or membership of an animal keeping society, was cited in the explanatory notes as evidence for licence conditions 4.1 and 4.2 being met, without any reference to formal training or qualifications. Relying on experience alone can result in the perpetuation of poor welfare practices if these practices are not recognised and corrected. This is a real concern for captive wild animals, as health and welfare problems due to inappropriate husbandry are very common.69 Using social media groups; working as a receptionist at a veterinary practice; a training course undertaken over 25 years prior to the inspection; and experience in conservation work (with no mention of animal welfare) were also cited in inspection reports to evidence competence for these licence conditions.

• General licence condition 4.3 requires that the licence holder must provide and ensure the implementation of a written training policy for all staff.11 Again, there is no requirement for this training to include qualifications or formal training in the welfare, behaviour, or health of the species being kept. The training must involve ‘use of online courses and literature’, the quality of which is highly variable for captive wild animals.11,70 We found that some inspectors marked general licence condition 4.3 as not applicable if the operator had no staff, despite the supporting guidance stating that if no staff are employed, the licence holder must demonstrate their own knowledge development.11 In-house training of staff was also cited as evidence of compliance with general licence condition 4.3, however in-house training of staff by operators who are not required to have qualifications and formal training in the health, welfare and handling of the animals for which they are licensed, risks perpetuating poor welfare practices.

Specialist knowledge of inspectors:

• The LAIA Regulations do not require inspectors to have specialist knowledge of the welfare needs of the vast array of wild animal species that are kept or trained for exhibition.

• All inspectors must be suitably qualified to carry out inspections.71 This is defined as: (a) Any person holding a Level 3 certificate or equivalent granted by a body, recognised and regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation which oversees the training and assessment of persons in inspecting and licensing animal activities businesses, confirming the passing of an independent examination. A person is only considered to be qualified to inspect a particular type of activity if their certificate applies to that activity; or (b) Any person holding a formal veterinary qualification, as recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary

Surgeons (“RCVS”), together with a relevant RCVS continuing professional development record; or (c) Until

October 2021, any person that can show evidence of at least one year of experience in licensing and inspecting animal activities businesses; or (d) From 1 October 2021, any person that can show evidence of at least one year of experience in licencing and inspecting animal activities businesses and, by 1 October 2021, is enrolled on a course leading to a Level 3 certificate qualification referenced in paragraph 16(a) above with the course having to be completed by 1 October 2022.71

• None of these requirements take into account the specialist knowledge that is required to assess whether the complex needs of the many different wild animals being kept or trained for exhibition are being met.

Given the wide variety of wild animals being kept or trained for exhibition by operators in England under a

LAIA Regulations 2018 licence, and the varied and complex needs of wild animals in captivity, it is unlikely that Local Authority inspectors have welfare expertise across the range of wild animals exhibited. • Our review of inspector notes in the inspection reports provided, revealed examples of where inspectors may have unknowingly permitted poor welfare practices to continue. For example, inappropriate reindeer diets were deemed to be acceptable by inspectors, including feeding straw; grazing on a grass paddock; and no mention of browse in the diet.18 In one report, a marmoset diet was described yet there was no mention of oral vitamin D3 supplementation, gut-loading invertebrates with calcium, or providing marmoset gum, all of which are recommended for these primates.72,73 In one report, an inspector stated that all vivariums for reptiles were completely enclosed, preventing any risk of zoonotic transmission. However, this would not prevent zoonotic agents such as Salmonella spp. passing from reptiles to staff when they handle reptiles, their enclosure, enclosure furniture or raw reptile feed.64 One inspector advised regular worming of a species, referencing Google, when regular faecal parasite testing is the current recommended practice for the species.19 The rearing technique for birds of prey was rarely commented upon, however both handrearing and imprinting were mentioned, with no notes about the risk of behavioural problems associated with these practices.34 One inspector accepted that a parrot had its wing clipped, with no mention of the negative welfare implications of this, including removing the bird’s ability to express normal behaviour;

increased risk of feather plucking; risk of development of learned fear and anxiety disorders; and risk of trauma due to lack of balance or loss of gliding ability.74 In one report, it was deemed acceptable for animals to be left in a vehicle for up to an hour. Another inspector reported that an operator occasionally killed rodents by blunt trauma to the head to tempt reptiles to feed; however, the inspector notes did not provide evidence that the operator was competent in this slaughter method, nor that the good welfare of these animals was assured prior to death.

Detailed, evidence-based, species-specific guidance:

• The LAIA Regulations 2018 exhibition guidance for Local Authorities lacks detailed, evidence-based, species-specific guidance regarding a suitable environment for captive wild animals.11

• Inspectors found that 98 operators did not meet general licence condition 5.0 for a suitable environment, however it is also likely that other unsuitable environments were missed, given the complex needs of wild animals, the wide variety of species kept, and the lack of a requirement for inspectors to demonstrate

Continued Professional Development in captive wild animal welfare.

• Detailed species-specific guidance, for example, recommended temperature and UV-B gradients for exhibited reptile species, recommended diets, and recommended enclosure sizes for exhibited wild animal species, and equipping all inspectors with the appropriate equipment to test parameters on site (e.g. an infrared thermometer and UV Index meter) may reduce the likelihood of inappropriate environmental conditions being overlooked.

Defined limits on travel times, exhibition times, types of performance that may be undertaken for each species, and clear guidance on conditions required during performance and at the performance site:

• Defined limits on travel and exhibition times are not currently included in the LAIA Regulations 2018 exhibition guidance.11 We found that multiple licensed operators offered to travel anywhere in the UK to exhibit their animals, and travel time of up to 8 hours was reported by one operator. Exhibition times were highly variable, ranging between two minutes and 12 hours, with some animals being offered off-site for 6-8 weeks at a time.

• The LAIA Regulations 2018 exhibition guidance does not stipulate which types of performance may be undertaken by which species.11 We found that animal encounters, involving handling by members of the public, were provided by the majority (80%; 345 of 431 operators) of operators licensed under the LAIA

Regulations 2018. However, handling of wild animals may induce stress and anxiety,12-17 and handling of these non-domesticated animals by untrained, unfamiliar people is of particular concern.

• Much of the focus of the LAIA Regulations 2018 exhibition guidance is on the living conditions of animals at their home site, rather than where they are being used for exhibition (if this is away from their home site).11

The guidance states that ‘suitable temporary accommodation’ must be provided for all the animals at any venue where they are exhibited, and that all animals involved for longer than a day must be provided with onsite housing and/or rest areas as set out under Condition 5.2 that allow for a range of movement and natural behaviours.11 As most performances last less than a day, there is minimal guidance on how animals should be kept at the performance site in the vast majority of cases. Furthermore, there is no requirement for inspections to take place at the performance site or during performances - inspections take place at the home site of the animals.

Frequency of inspections:

• Under the LAIA Regulations 2018, inspections are only required prior to granting and renewal of a licence (which is every three years), although in the case of complaints or other information that suggests licence conditions are not being complied with or that the welfare of the animals involved in a licensed activity is at risk, unannounced inspections should also be carried out.71

• This is concerning as many welfare issues could arise over a three-year period. For comparison, hiring out horses requires an annual inspection under the LAIA Regulations 2018, and licensed zoos are inspected annually under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981.71,75,76

• The decision to make exhibition licences renewable only once every three years (and thus inspections to take place only once every three years) was made on the basis that these activities were previously only subject to a simple registration system under the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925.71 However, this should not be a reason to limit the requirements under the 2018 regulations, which could have negative consequences for animal welfare.