§ Lord Hardy of Wathasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why castration of pigs as an excepted operation may be performed within Wales within four weeks but in England within eight days. [HL3522]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Lord Whitty)The amendment contained in the Protection of Animals (Anaesthetics) (Amendment) (No 2) (England) Order 2003 implements a provision of the Commission pig welfare Directive 2001/93/EC and changes the Protection of Animals (Anaesthetics) Act 1954, insofar as it extends to England only. The provision reduces to eight days the age from which an anaesthetic will be required when castrating pigs. Amendment of the 1954 Act is within the devolved competence of the National Assembly of Wales and will be enacted in Wales in the near future, in order to bring about the same age limit as now applies in England.