On Wednesday afternoon I was extremely disappointed to see that our government voted to withdraw from the EU legislation recognising animals as sentient beings in preparation for Brexit. In other words they chose to reject existing animal welfare law documenting that animals have emotions and can feel pain.
With three quarters of current animal welfare legislation coming from the EU, like animal charities and welfare organisations, the media and the public, I am of the opinion that when we leave the EU we need to improve animal welfare standards and give better protection to animals, not to diminish their rights.
- If an animal hurts its foot it limps
- If an animal doesn’t feel well its face and body language clearly show this
- If an animal has been maltreated or attacked it visibly shows fear if sensing it is at risk of a repeat situation
- Many animals dislike an encounter with their vet – why? Because they are often subject to pain and distress
- When other animals in a household or their owner passes away, animals regularly show indications of sadness
- If we feel tense or stressed animals pick up on our feelings
- If we are unwell, our animals are more gentle than usual with us
Animals are not ‘things’ or in the case of farm animals ‘just commodities to eat’, animals are wonderful, caring and selfless beings with feelings, communications and a form of intelligence that is largely beyond our awareness or comprehension.
A number of years ago before I became a dog owner and started working as an Animal Reiki Practitioner, common sense and observation told me that animals had feelings. However whilst working with animals they have taught me so much and in many cases shown me how deeply they feel emotions. I am humbled by their incredibly kind actions based on their love and compassion for those who care for and live with them and I feel honoured that they have shared their thoughts and feelings with me.
A beautiful brave little dog that had been deserted by his human family and taken in by a rescue required serious dental work. Unaware of the removal of all of his teeth until after the anaesthetic wore off he opened his heart to me asking “What next! I thought my family loved me until they abandoned me and now this”.
Another Reiki client, a horse this time with a very close attachment to her owner taught me that she could request Reiki by sending me an image of herself and the feeling of her pain. Only on one occasion it turned out, as I realised when later telling her owner, that it was actually the owner’s very specific back pain that this adorable horse had amazingly sent to me.
I wondered how the group of people responsible for setting UK rules for animal welfare could refute that animals feel sadness and joy, pain and loss just like us. I struggled to comprehend how they could vote against maintaining current law that recognises their sentience, as did thousands of other Britons who were busy signing petitions and issuing heart felt messages of disbelief, upset and even rage. However it appears that the government does accept that animals (or at least some) are sentient and have feelings. They didn’t wish to accept the EU law in its entirety but have stated that the UK Animal Welfare Act 2006 already reflects this and that they intend to raise animal welfare standards not lower them when we leave the UK. I hope that this is the case and I will be watching eagerly for further animal welfare legislative discussions in the months ahead. When we leave the EU animals must be treated with the care and compassion they deserve.
I know a lot of people were more than frustrated on Wednesday and I hope this provides clarity.
Best wishes,
The Holistic Way 