slug protection laws

[travelinman]

Gardeners critical over slug protection laws
By Fiona Govan
(Filed: 11/07/2004)

A new animal welfare law that will offer slugs and snails the same protection as cats and dogs was condemned by gardeners yesterday.

Legislation to be announced by the Government this week will give courts the power to impose fines of up to ?20,000 and 12 months in jail on people found guilty of mistreating animals. Anyone under the age of 16 will be banned from owning a pet and goldfish will no longer be allowed to be given as prizes at fairgrounds.

The legislation could lead to gardeners being fined for killing insects, worms, caterpillars, slugs and snails, if scientific evidence proves they have suffered pain and distress. Ministers say the law, which updates existing legislation, is needed to protect animals from abuse. Horticulturalists rejected the idea that they could be guilty of cruelty.

Bunny Guinness, The Telegraph gardening columnist and six-times winner of the gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, said gardeners should not be liable to fines for protecting their gardens. "Hundreds of slugs and snails are being slaughtered in gardens up and down the country. It would be quite ridiculous to call that cruelty. Almost all gardeners use slug pellets or salt to keep the pests at bay," she said.

John Cushnie, a regular panellist on Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time, said some aspects of the legislation were nonsensical. "To give worms and slugs protection under the law is ludicrous. If I have an infestation of slugs or snails or cabbage white butterflies then I will get rid of them in whatever way I choose. No one is going to tell me that the things are suffering. If I want to boil them alive, stamp on them or treat them to a slow drawn-out death by poison then I will - and would like to see the Government that would try to interfere with a man and his garden."

The draft Bill, which updates the Protection of Animals Act 1911, will be published next week by Ben Bradshaw, the minister for animal welfare. The penalties for cruelty would double the present maximum jail sentence and substantially increase the ?5,000 maximum fine. Anyone owning a pet, farm or exotic animal would have a statutory duty of care towards it and could have it taken away. They could also be banned from looking after another. Unborn animals will receive the same protection.

So it's ok to kill unborn humans, but kill that unborn baby rat and go to jail, Liberals are fucking amazing

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...11/nslug11.xml

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 12, 2004 10:36 AM: Message edited by: travelinman ]</font>

[Piña]

Originally posted by travelinman:
So it's ok to kill unborn humans, but kill that unborn baby rat and go to jail, Liberals are fucking amazing.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">First off, do you actually know anything about the law in question except for the little in the article or are you just projectile crapping as usual?

and Secondly, what does this have to do with "liberals". Animal rights legislation is pretty much a matter of conscience matter not one of politics per se.

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 12, 2004 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Pi?a ]</font>

[LanDroid]

The effects of salt poured on a slug are quite fascinating.
[img]graemlins/snail.gif[/img] <=Nooooooooo! To you too!

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 12, 2004 08:22 PM: Message edited by: LanDroid ]</font>

[travelinman]

Originally posted by Pi?a:
[QB]
and Secondly, what does this have to do with "liberals". Animal rights legislation is pretty much a matter of conscience matter not one of politics per se.
[QB]

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Outside of GL I have never met a Republican Animal Rights person.

[Piña]

Originally posted by travelinman:
Outside of GL I have never met a Republican Animal Rights person.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh, they're out there. Having worked in animal rescue I can tell you that politics isn't a reliable predictor of where one stands on animal welfare or animal rights.

Add to that the vast philosophical differences found throughout the animal welfare/rights community and any gross generalization, like the one you graced this board with, are better indicators of the author's ignorance than of the players in AW/AR.

<font color="#000002" size="1">[ July 12, 2004 12:47 PM: Message edited by: Pi?a ]</font>