Ulster Unionist agriculture spokesperson Tom Elliott MLA has said that the Welfare of Animals Bill, while ultimately welcome in its ability to "protect animals from abandonment, from suffering and from being used by criminals in fights and baiting", is unfortunately "almost void of any detail" in its current form.

Criticising the Department of Agriculture for bringing forward a Bill without detail, the "gaps" of which would be filled in by subordinate legislation, the UUP MLA - deputy chair of the Assembly Agriculture Committee, said:

"We don’t believe in giving the Department powers without knowing what the detail is and we’re not going to start now.

"It’s also empty because it avoids tackling issues that are relevant to the welfare of animals, such as the use of wild animals in circuses, keeping primates as pets and the regulation of breeding establishments.

"It’s as if the Minister and the Department, in their quest to earn Brownie points by passing another Bill, want to avoid controversial issues."

Pointing to the Department’s desire to create an offence in respect of tail docking, the Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA asked for an explanation why they would seek to argue that a lamb’s tail or a pig’s tail can be docked when they seek to prohibit the tail docking of a working dog.

"They should explain how the pain associated with the castration of an animal is any different or less severe than the docking of a dog’s tail."

Welcoming the introduction of a number of offences relating to the practice of animal fighting, Mr Elliott said that the legislation must be sufficiently "stringent to guarantee that criminals are appropriately punished and that they offer an appropriate deterrent to those who participate in this heinous crime".