Animal Welfare

Animal abusers could be jailed for up to five years if they upload content depicting their cruelty to social media. Judges have been told to give out heavier sentences if people convicted of animal cruelty share media of such acts online, like West Ham footballer Kurt Zouma. The RSPCA is prosecuting

A ban on the farming of animals primarily for their fur or skin has come into effect in Ireland. The Animal Health and Welfare and Forestry (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which was approved by the Oireachtas last week, includes provision for compensation for the farmers affected.

Boiling lobsters alive will become a crime under new UK government plans which will recognise crustaceans and molluscs as sentient beings with the ability to feel pain. Ministers are expected to back a proposed amendment to the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, extending its protections for vertebrat

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has announced Government agreement to the drafting of the Animal Health and Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2021. This Bill, for which Mr McConalogue is seeking early pre-legislative scrutiny, provides for:

Responsibility for animal cruelty prosecutions in England and Wales may be transferred from the RSPCA to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) ahead of the introduction of stricter sentences for offenders. The move, included in the RSPCA's new ten-year strategy, would bring England and Wales into line

A Donegal solicitor gave CPR to one of his dying brown bears in an attempt to save her life, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

New legislation improving governance and tightening regulation in the greyhound racing sector has come into effect. Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has commenced certain sections of the Greyhound Racing Act 2019, relating to the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 and the Animal Health and Welfa

A pet owner is set to be prosecuted for allegedly abandoning guinea pigs and a goldfish in the first case of its kind. Until now, animal welfare legislation introduced five years ago has only been used in prosecutions linked to cats, dogs and horses, the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty t