Companion Animal Sector Council set to hold engagement forum

CASC was set up in 2005 and re-invigorated by The Lord Trees in 2018. The Council brings together a wide range of stakeholders involved with the welfare of companion animals (excluding dogs, cats or equines), which includes veterinary groups, regulators, businesses, welfare charities, pet keepers, hobbyist groups and educational establishments.

Its primary aim is to develop consensus positions on matters involving companion animal welfare to inform Parliamentarians, officials, regulators and enforcement agencies. This helps ensure that new and existing regulation is appropriate, proportionate and reflects the input from as many stakeholders as possible.

Some of the work CASC has carried out in recent years includes:

Provided a detailed response to the call for evidence regarding primate keeping
Collected data and provided feedback to DEFRA for the Licensing of Activities Involving Animals post implementation review
Investigated the efficacy of different methods of improving welfare, including the use of restricted keeping (positive lists)
Worked to develop guidance for one day pet sales events to standardise and protect welfare
Assisted with issues involving salmonella infections of imported reptile foods.
Provided feedback on potential welfare issues caused by post Brexit border controls and the new Target Operating Model
Provided a stakeholder review with recommendations of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act
Provided feedback on issues involving border controls of pet birds
Provided input into invasive species and CITES teams to assist policy development
Provided rapid information feedback to ad hoc enquiries

The engagement forum allows the opportunity to engage with stakeholders and other officials to hear updates, see the welfare related work of CASC members and take part in stakeholder roundtable discussions of current topics in an open and constructive environment. It is the only event which brings together such a wide range of diverse companion animal stakeholders and so is a key opportunity to gain an insight into these diverse opinions.

This year’s event will be divided into three sections:

Starting at 10.30am, the morning session will consist of five short 10 minute presentations from the CASC chair, CASC working groups and invited speakers. Mr Peter Laurie, AHWBE director will be speaking about his role and how this engages with CASC, with two further speakers to be confirmed.

A buffet lunch with refreshments will allow time to informally engage with CASC members and see examples of the important welfare work they do. There will also be a short presentation from The Lord Trees.

The afternoon session will be a series of round-table discussions covering some key current topics. The discussion topics will be:

Issues with unregulated pet sales, particularly the internet trade of live animals, giving live animals as prizes and private sales.
Issues with the breeding of pets with deleterious genes. This is an ongoing issue with dogs but with more and more pets being selectively bred it is an emerging issue for other companion animal species.
Improving pet welfare. Welfare is a complex topic and there are many ways to improve it. Can restricting the types of animal kept be effective, or is education a better tool?
Primate licensing guidance. We hope that the latest version of the proposed licensing guidance will be available for discussion and comment with private primate keepers.
Licensing of activities Involving Animals regulations: The post implementation review has now been published and so it is important that future work is identified and actioned. This might include reviewing the current guidance, changes to the regulations or extending scope to include one day sales meetings and rescue and rehoming operations.

If you would like to attend all or part of the day then let the CASC secretariat, Dave Perry, know by emailing him at secretariat@casc.org.uk. Dave will also be able to help if you have any questions about the event or venue.