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Section 1(1) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 defines an animal for the purpose of the Act as a vertebrate other than man. This is because, as stated in the Explanatory Notes<\/em> to the Act, vertebrates are currently \u201cthe only demonstrably sentient animals\u201d. Section 1(3) of the Act provides powers to extend the definition of \u201canimal\u201d to cover invertebrates if scientific evidence shows they are also sentient; that is they \u201care capable of experiencing pain or suffering\u201d.<\/p>

<\/p>

The main \u201ccruelty\u201d offence in the Act (at section 4) applies to all vertebrates commonly domesticated in the British Islands, whether they can be said to be under the control of man or not and to all other vertebrates under the control of man, or not living in a wild state (\u201cprotected animals)\u201d. The Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 specifically protects any other wild mammals from cruelty. The main \u201cpromotion of welfare\u201d offence at section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 covers any vertebrate for which a person is responsible. Therefore the main offences in the Animal Welfare Act cover both farmed vertebrates and any wild vertebrates under the control of man, or not living in a wild state.<\/p>

<\/p>

The cruelty offence at section 4 also applies to any vertebrates used in a laboratory excepting anything lawfully permitted under The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986<\/em>.<\/p>

<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4161", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Gardiner of Kimble"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-11-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-11-30T15:07:54.233Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Animal Welfare"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government which sections of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 explicitly recognise animals as sentient beings; and what assessment they have made of the operation of the provisions of that Act on (1) farm animals, (2) wild animals, and (3) laboratory animals.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4297", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb"} ], "uin" : "HL3622"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }