Staffordshire County Council is strengthening its approach to protecting animals by making use of new animal welfare penalty notices.
The notices give Trading Standards officers a quicker and more proportionate way to tackle breaches of animal welfare and health legislation. This approach supports early intervention and helps prevent harm to animals, while ensuring that serious or deliberate offences can still be dealt with through the courts.
The authority’s Trading Standards service has issued seven Penalty Notices to people breaking animal welfare rules over the last 12 months. The notices were issued where there were failures to protect animals from suffering, injury or death, breaking movement rules and for poor record keeping.
Fines of up to £5,000 can be used as an alternative to prosecution through the courts for certain offences. If a penalty notice is not paid, formal prosecution maybe sought.
Anthony Screen, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Resilience at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Maintaining high standards of animal health and welfare is essential, both to prevent unnecessary suffering and to protect the wider farming and animal‑keeping community.
“We take offending in this area extremely seriously and the introduction of the penalty notices gives our officers an additional enforcement option. While the notices are appropriate in certain cases, it does not lessen the authority’s commitment to taking strong action. The notices give us a faster, fairer way to deal with welfare breaches, supporting early action while keeping tough measures for serious cases.
“Where individuals fail to meet their legal responsibilities, they will be brought to task and could face prosecution.”
Trading Standards officers continue to work with farmers, animal keepers and businesses to provide advice and support on meeting legal requirements, while taking decisive enforcement action where standards fall short.
Anyone with concerns relating to animal health and welfare is encouraged to report them by contacting Trading Standards Confidential on 01785 330356 or online at Trading Standards Report It.
