§ Lord Northfieldasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have to consolidate or amend the transit of animals orders and whether they will introduce special provisions with regard to deer and in particular deer with antlers in velvet, heavily pregnant females and females with young at foot.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Belstead)We have already embarked on a programme of modernising and simplifying the many orders on the welfare of animals in transit, including the one which applies to the transit of deer. The Farm Animal Welfare Council, in its report on the welfare of farmed deer, considered however that there was no justification for legislative change on deer transport and proposed that a voluntary code of practice should recommend against transporting the classes of animal mentioned. The Government's response to the council's report will be published shortly.