Regional Animal Welfare update for Asia, Far East and Oceania for the year of 2016 The Regional Animal Welfare Strategy Advisory group to the Regional Commission was formed and finalized during 2016 after the previous RAWS Coordination Group closed in 2015. The RAWS Action Plan continues to give a framework for the region to promote the social and economic benefits of improving animal welfare, as well as support member country Delegates and animal welfare focal points, national and regional organisations and new or ongoing initiatives to advance animal welfare in the region. Two teleconferences have been organised so far for the group and a meeting in the margin of the 4 th OIE Global Conference on Animal Welfare held in Mexico 6 8 December 2016. The key priorities of the Advisory Group for 2017 are: to identify and progress top priorities from the Action Plan for advancing animal welfare in the region, and associated funding; to establish Key Performance Indicators for reporting to the OIE; to support national animal welfare focal points in the region by ensuring new focal points understand their role and are well supported by existing focal points; to engage national welfare focal points as well as other stakeholders to share information on achievements and activities that are occurring throughout the region to promote the improvement of animal welfare. Asia, the Far East and Oceania is a very diverse region with members having a range of different priorities and resources regarding animal welfare. Several countries and organisations have provided updates on activities and advancements in animal welfare. Country updates There have been many legislative developments relating to animal welfare reported by member countries in the past year: Australia has made the following legislative developments: The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Sheep and Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Cattle have been agreed by state and territory agriculture ministers and are now being incorporated into law by most state and territory governments. The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines Livestock at Saleyards and Depots are developed and pending endorsement through the Agriculture Ministers forum. The standards and guidelines are anticipated to be endorsed by agriculture ministers by June 2017. Should that
occur, it will then be the responsibility of state and territory governments to incorporate them into law. The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Exhibited Animals are developed and ready to be considered by governments for approval. The standards and guidelines will create improved and nationally consistent rules for the care and management of animals kept for exhibition purposes at facilities such as zoos, aquariums and museums with live animal exhibits. The New South Wales government continues to coordinate the project and has also produced the General Standards for Exhibiting Animals in New South Wales and this has been prescribed under the Exhibited Animals Protection Regulation 2010. The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Livestock at Processing Establishments are under development. The standards and guidelines will create improved, nationally consistent rules for Australian establishments that undertake commercial processing of livestock to produce meat and meat products for human consumption. The New South Wales government continues to coordinate the project. Animal Health Australia (AHA) with Goat Industry Council of Australia (GICA) have developed the Australian Industry Standards and Guidelines for Goats. The standards and guidelines apply to all goat farming enterprises in Australia. Unlike the standards and guidelines mentioned above, these industry standards and guidelines are voluntary and are not regulated by government. The Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry are under development. The standards and guidelines will cover all aspects of the welfare of poultry, including poultry for meat processing, and ducks, turkeys, ostriches, emus, geese, pheasants, guinea fowl, partridge, quail and pigeons. The New South Wales government continues to coordinate the project. Public consultation on the draft standards and guidelines is expected by mid 2017. Review of animal welfare legislation within Australian states is an ongoing process. Recent developments include: Amendments to the South Australian Dog and Cat Management Act 1995 to require mandatory desexing and microchipping of dogs and cat. In September 2016 the Victorian Government released a five year Draft Action Plan "Improving the Welfare of Animals in Victoria" for public consultation. The Draft Action Plan included three priority action areas based around legislative reform, more effective and efficient compliance and collaborative approaches. A final Animal Welfare Action Plan is due to be released in 2017. The Victorian Minister for Agriculture has appointed an Ambassador for Animal Welfare to work with Agriculture Victoria on these initiatives to improve animal welfare. Several Australian states are reviewing legislation related to Greyhound racing. Bhutan has the following legislative developments under way. The rules and regulations of the livestock act is being amended to include more on animal welfare. The chapter covering animal welfare is currently being revised and amended. The new standards on animal welfare are in the process of being drafted and will be in line with the OIE
standards as well as the European Union standards. This draft is still under way and not yet completed. China has the following legislative developments. New Law on Protection of Wild Life On July 2, 2016, the revision of Wildlife Protection Law of the PRC was enacted with effective date of January 1, 2017. This is the first time the Law has been substantively revised since its promulgation in the 1980s. Highlights of the revised law include: (1) restriction of domestication and breeding of wildlife; (2) protection of wildlife habitats; (3) prohibition on hunting methods including poisons, explosives, electronic shock, electronic trap devices, snares, leg hold traps, makeshift guns, etc. Farm Animal Welfare Requirements: Mutton Sheep (T/CAS 242 2015) On November, 10, 2015, the Farm Animal Welfare Requirements for Mutton Sheep was issued by China Association for Standardization. The standard sets the requirements on mutton sheep health and welfare from rearing on farm to transporting and slaughtering. It also includes shearing and management procedures. Technical Standard for Broiler Welfare in Slaughtering (DB37/T 2828 2016) On July, 29, 2016, the Technical Standard for Broiler Welfare in Slaughtering was issued by Shandong Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision with effective date of August, 29, 2016. This provincial level standard regulates the steps leading to slaughter and details each procedure to ensure the welfare of broiler chicken during harvesting, transporting and slaughtering. Highlights of the guidelines include: (1) chickens should be caught individually by grasping both legs or around the body using both hands to hold the wings against the body, not seized by a single leg or wing; (2) the time from when the birds leave the farm to arriving at the slaughterhouse must be no longer than three hours; (3) a breast comforter should be used in the shackle ling from the shackling to the entry into the stun bath; (4) birds should be stunned unconsciously before sticking and bleeding by an electrical water bath or other types of permitted stunning equipment. In Hong Kong the administration amended the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Trader) Regulations to strengthen regulation of pet trading to better protect animal welfare in 2016. The amendment has taken effect on 20 March 2017. The legislative amendments include introducing a new licensing scheme to tighten the regulation of persons who breed and sell dogs; prohibiting sale of dog to any person under the age of 16; increasing penalties under the law; and empowering the Director of the Department to revoke animal trader licences under certain circumstances. India has had a National Dairy Code of Practices for Management of Dairy Animals endorsed by Ministry of Agriculture. The standard code for high welfare dairy management practices will be used for training of all veterinarians and extension service workers. On 3 rd March 2016 the Honourable Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare released the First National Disaster Management Plan of the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries. On 01st June 2016 the Honourable Prime Minister of India released the First
National Disaster Management Plan of the National Disaster Management Authority. Animal protection components were successfully integrated into both these plans. Indonesia has the following legislative developments Revision of the KUHP (Book of Criminal Code Law) is being discussed in parliament in order to provide stronger legislation concerning animal welfare. Guidelines for good cattle farming practices have been in place since Augustus 2015. Some further regulations are being developed and discussed such as: Regulation regarding the implementation of animal welfare in ruminant livestock farming, Aquatic Animal Welfare, Animal Transportation Standards and Animal Welfare Implementation at Slaughter House. More regulations currently under revision and still being discussed are regulations regarding NKV (Veterinary Establishment Number) and regulation regarding the slaughter of cattle. Iran has the following legislative developments Beholden to IVO (Iran Veterinary Organization) and DOE (Department of Environment) pursuing the matter and in cooperation with Municipalities and rural governorate offices organizations and related NGOs a number of meetings have been convened to draw up specific animal welfare and cruelty regulations. The existent regulations on animal welfare are dispersed in the legislation and given that reviewing the overarching rules and regulations would be very time consuming, it was laid down that in the first stage a number of new rules are to be drawn up as the mainstay and sent to the cabinet for further ratification as a draft. In the case of cabinet approval, these said rules will be submitted to the judiciary followed by rendering to the parliament and become a law. Some features of the said regulations include: Punishment for those who commit the animal torture and abuse. Public announcement about animal rights and welfare. Laos PDR has a new amended Livestock Production and Veterinary Law which now includes a topic relating to animal welfare. This law is in the process of being implemented through the ministry and will become department regulation. Malaysia has the following legislative developments The Animal Welfare Act 2015 is expected to be enforced in June 2017. The Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) Malaysia has finalised 4 regulations that will be drafted under the Animal Welfare Act. These regulations include regulation on licensing, for improvement notice and compounding of offenses, regulation for animal welfare officer and the voluntary animal welfare assistant and also regulation for research, testing and teaching. Consultation with government agencies, NGOs and industry had been carried out.
In addition, a total of 14 Codes of Practice (COP) are being prepared. Three COP s have been distributed to all stakeholders. These COPs are for pet shop, breeding and animal boarding activity. The rest are being finalised. Mongolia has the following legislative developments There is a recognised gap in legislation relating to animal welfare in Mongolia. There has been work done on a draft law relating to animal welfare since 2015, which formally recognises animal welfare in National Law for the first time. The law covers domestic pets, working animal, animals kept for food, animals kept for entertainment and animals kept for any other purpose including wild animals. The draft law will be put to the general session of parliament in the second half of 2017 and await endorsement by the Parliament of Mongolia. New Zealand has the following legislative developments Changes to the Animal Welfare Act in 2015 now allow regulations to be made under the Act. In addition, there is now a ban on using animals to test finished cosmetic products or ingredients that are used exclusively in cosmetic products. In 2016, the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) consulted on a range of proposals for regulations, including for the care of and conduct towards animals, and surgical and painful procedures. Regulations have been issued for young calf welfare and live animal exports. Others are under development. Current regulations can be viewed on the MPI website http://www.mpi.govt.nz/law andpolicy/legal overviews/animal welfare/animal welfare regulations/. Philippines has The Animal Welfare Act of 1998 in place already which recognises the welfare of animals and is in place to protect and promote the welfare of animals in the Philippines by supervising and regulating the establishment and operation of all facilities utilized for breeding, maintaining, keeping, treating or training of all animals either as objects of trade or as household pets. The act recognises that welfare is both an economic and social concern especially in international trade requirements. This act was amended and updated in 2013 to include aquatic and marine animals as well. The penalties for violations of law were also increased and Animal Welfare Enforcement Officers were given powers to enforce the law. To support the Animal Welfare law, the Committee on Animal Welfare attached to the Department of Agriculture (DA CAW) regularly meets to discuss policy formulation. The DA CAW is represented by 14 institutions coming from government agencies, private groups, animal welfare groups, professional groups. A total of twenty eight (28) Administrative Circulars/Orders were passed for guidance and compliance of stakeholders. Some of these are under review and will be amended to remain consistent with OIE animal welfare standards. Other animal welfare standards and guidelines are continuously being drafted by the DA CAW like Training and Deputation Guidelines for Animal Welfare Enforcement Officers, Implementing Guidelines for Animals Used in Entertainment. All regulations and standards undergo series of public consultation before finalization by the DA CAW and endorsement to the Secretary of Agriculture for approval. Singapore has the following legislative developments from the past year.
On 11 August 2016, the Agri Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) issued the Code of Animal Welfare (for the Pet Industry). The Code comprises: a. Minimum Standards on animal housing, management and care, which pet businesses are expected to comply with. b. Best Practices on animal housing, management and care, which pet businesses are encouraged to adopt to further raise the standard of animal welfare in Singapore. The Code applies to all businesses that offer pets or goods and services for pets, including those not licensed by AVA. Although failure to meet a minimum standard in the Code is not an offence, the Code can be used to support prosecution or other enforcement actions for animal welfare cases. Sri Lanka has had an Animal Welfare Bill passed by the Sri Lankan Government and a special team has now been appointed to make amendments to this Bill. Update on other initiatives There have been many other initiatives and ongoing activities relating to animal welfare in the region at the national as well as regional level and some of these initiatives include: In Australia the beef industry has completed a consultation between public, private and other stakeholders to create a report on a framework for sustainable beef production which can be found at http://www.sustainableaustralianbeef.com.au/ In Bhutan the Third Phase (2015 2018) of HSI project on stray dog population management and rabies control is going on. The catch, neuter, vaccinate and release (CNVR) programme is being implemented nationwide. A mass rabies vaccination campaign was launched along the border with India in the month of February, 2016 and till date 1124 stray dogs are vaccinated. In China the Animal Welfare Institute of Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University was founded in March, 2016. It is a non profit academic institution based in Hangzhou, the capital and most populated city of Zhejiang Province in east China. AWI advocates scientific and rational use and treatment of animals from the perspective of basic physiology and psychological needs of animals. It aims to implement good animal welfare for all animals including those used for production and food and is concerned with all aspects of health and welfare for humans, animals and the environment. Activities at AWI include: (1) scientific research to promote animal welfare; (2) developing animal welfare evaluation systems and standardized production models; (3) animal welfare education; (4) developing animal welfare as a discipline and collaboration with other institutes.
In Hong Kong the focus for animal welfare is on companion animals. The Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (the Department) promotes animal welfare through public education and publicity campaigns. The Department produced a 10 episode Filled With Love campaign for broadcast on buses, featuring tips for caring of pets to promote rehoming of pets and Responsible Pet Ownership in 2016. During the year, the Department organised a wide range of activities, including Pets With Love Art Competition for 3 categories, namely kindergarten, primary and open group, a large scale two day dog adoption carnival, an animal adoption day, 4 dog training courses, 93 seminars at schools and estates and 25 roving exhibitions including several joint events with other organisations. The videos of Filled With Love TV programme have been added to the YouTube Channel AFCD Animal Management. Videos promoting the events organised by the Department, those capturing event highlight, Announcements in the Public Interest and more are also available on the Channel. The Department continues to provide lending services of digital video players loaded with Announcements in the Public Interest and educational videos on animal care to estate management offices to borrow and show at places like lobby, reception, clubhouse, etc. The Department also provides lending services of five sets of education panels to schools, estates and non governmental organisations (NGOs). The Department collaborates with partnering Animal Welfare Organisations (AWOs) in promoting animal welfare and rehoming animals. Free de sexing services for rehomed animals (for dogs, cats and rabbits only) are provided through these AWOs. The Department also provides financial assistance for AWOs to organise relevant educational and promotional programmes. In this regard, the Department has set aside $1.5 million for application by AWOs in financial year 2016 17 for the enhancement of animal management and promotion of animal welfare. In Indonesia there have been programs developed by the government for education on animal welfare and animal care in elementary and high schools as well as the Indonesian Scouts. These campaigns have been initiated by the central government, but are now also being implanted by local governments as well. Since Malaysia is soon to start enforcing the new Animal Welfare Act, there have been seminars to introduce the Code of Practices in Animal Welfare for government staff, those working in private sector in the animal industry especially those involved in pet shop, animal breeding and boarding centres, NGOs and also local government authority. The Department has also organized awareness programs and education in animal welfare for students in collaboration with SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Selangor. This program was initiated by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro based Industry who has given full support in the development of animal welfare in Malaysia. A National Animal Welfare Day was held in October 2016. The program received good response from the public since it was the first time it was organised at the national level. The program was coordinated by DVS with the cooperation of government agencies such as police, school, University, fire and rescue department and local government authority, animal industry,
veterinary associations and NGO s. The Animal welfare Day was launched by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro Based Industry Malaysia. Other government initiatives were to conduct awareness and education program in animal welfare. The programs that have been planned in this year s schedule also includes Colloquium in animal welfare based on Islamic perspective, Animal Welfare Day for 2017, seminar in animal welfare, as well as animal welfare exhibition. In New Zealand there was a significant earthquake magnitude 7.9 on 14 th November 2016 on the East coast of the South Island. The Ministry for Primary Industries has the lead responsibility for the national coordination of animal welfare services in emergencies. Its role is to ensure that there are emergency plans in place which take into account all animals including pets, production animals, zoo animals, animals used for research etc. MPI is supported by a number of support agencies that bring expertise, response capability, access to networks, resources and intelligence. MPI s national animal welfare emergency response team was successfully activated as part of MPI s emergency response after the earthquake and fortunately, there were no major animal welfare issues. In India during a global milestone campaign, World Animal Protection ran the campaign better lives for dogs in India, and since this the Bihar state government has constituted a dog/animal birth control monitoring committee and Delhi Municipal Corporation initiated the process to conduct a dog survey in Delhi to make for a dog population control programme. An industry led welfare initiative that will start in July on Piloting Animal Welfare Indicators through the Live Export Supply Chain will look into welfare indicators from the farm all the way through to point of slaughter at destination markets throughout Asia and will run for three years. CSIRO in Australia are developing a framework and process for risk assessment and management of on farm welfare performance. This is also another area to be aware of too is the Beef Sustainability Framework. The link to their website provides the background and status quo. http://www.sustainableaustralianbeef.com.au/ Poultry welfare standards have been developed and agreed among ASEAN members and can be found at http://asean.org/storage/2012/05/asean GAHP for Animal Welfare and Environmental Sustainability Module_final.pdf Update on Collaborating Centre activities The OIE Collaborating Centre for Animal Welfare Science and Bioethical Analsysis the David Bayvel Consortium has submitted a formal report to the OIE. Highlights of its activities in 2016 include: Completion of Cooperative Project to enhance stakeholder knowledge of OIE slaughter and transportation standards in China, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Establishment of a website with key resources in English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia, Thai and
Vietnamese (www.animalwelfarestandards.org) and a Top 10 summary of the key messages for the transport and slaughter of livestock. A number of supporting research projects investigating attitudes towards animal welfare and the barriers to improving animal welfare. Provided members to OIE ad hoc groups on animal welfare and pig production systems, and animal welfare and laying hen production systems. Contributions to the 4th OIE Global Conference on Animal Welfare in Guadalajara, Mexico (Dec 2016), included plenary presentations, posters, and membership of the Scientific Committee (http://www.oie.int/eng/animal welfare conf2016/presrec.html) Supported successful student internships to OIE headquarters in Paris. Maintained network with other animal welfare Collaborating Centres. Inclusion of the late David Bayvel s name into the Centre s title reflecting his contribution to the establishment of the Centre and its activities, as well as animal welfare within New Zealand, Australia and internationally with the OIE. Drafted Connecting globally and acting locally animal welfare collaborating centre initiatives in the diversity of Asia, the Far East and Oceania for the OIE Bulletin (due for publication early 2017).