Henry Smith MP has been elected as the Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, at a meeting of the Group in Parliament this week (Monday, 23rd June).
The Group was set up to raise the profile of this subject with Government and decision-makers in order to influence better legislation for animals.
Henry said;
“As someone who has campaigned for greater treatment of animals for many years, I’m honoured to have been elected as Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare.
“It’s an area many Crawley residents are concerned with and these are matters I’ve campaigned on since before I was elected to Parliament, so I’m pleased to now be in a position to continue our work on this cause.”
The Group has over 100 Associate members ranging from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the Dogs Trust, the British Veterinary Association, and Petplan.
Members were keen to see Henry appointed as Chair owing to his clear commitment to animal welfare, and his ability to communicate well on behalf of members. By chairing the Group, Henry will be supporting all of those groups in their campaigns and assisting in ensuring that the voice of animals is heard across the democratic forum.
Marisa Heath, Co-ordinator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare, added;
“We are delighted to have Henry as Co-Chairman of the group and feel confident we will be able do some good work together than will help animals both nationally and internationally.
“He is clearly an animal lover and understands why our members feel so passionate about this issue.”
The Group often holds enquiries and publishes reports on the topics which are of particular concern, and Henry will be working with the Group to pick the most important areas to focus on such as high welfare standards at slaughter, responsible pet ownership, trade and sale of exotic animals and products relating to them.
Lorraine Platt, Founder of Conservatives Against Fox Hunting (Blue Fox), added;
“We are delighted that Henry has been elected as the Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group For Animal Welfare.
“Henry has led a number of important debates on animal welfare including the need for CCTV in slaughterhouses and the successful 2012 badger cull debate. Henry has lent his kind support for our work to protect the hunting ban and to introduce a close season for hares.
“We know that Henry cares greatly about animal welfare issues and we congratulate Henry on his role in leading APGAW to promote and further the case for animal welfare by all means available to the Parliaments at Westminster and in Europe.”
Dr Brian May; Founder of the Save Me Trust and Queen guitarist, commented;
“We're delighted that Henry Smith has been appointed Co-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare. Henry is a man of unquestionable integrity and humanity, and in the last session of Parliament consistently championed the right of British wild animals to decent treatment.
“We congratulate Henry and look forward to working with him on humane issues over the next 5 years.”
External links:
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare
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