Just before Easter I hosted a roundtable for animal welfare charities, Police, local authorities and others to discuss how we can move enforcement processes forward. Spearheaded by the All Party Group for Animal Welfare there has been a great deal of work go in to making sure that organisations and local councils work effectively together. Sadly those who smuggle, abuse and over-breed animals do not do so in isolation and often work in more than one location.
I hope that a clear message can be sent to DEFRA that more work needs to be done to encourage joint working on animal welfare enforcement issues.