UK Passes its own Animal Sentience Act after Leaving the EU

When the UK (United Kingdom) voted to leave the European Union (EU), one of the consequences would be the loss of legislation on various issues covered in existing EU laws. The UK government had to pass new laws covering the many items in EU legislation that would no longer apply to the UK, including the statement in the EU governing treaty that animals were sentient. The Conservative Government had promised to address the complicated range of legislative gaps, including the declaration that animals are sentient beings, that would be precipitated by the UK’s departure from the EU via new omnibus legislation. As expected, the very complicated omnibus EU-departure legislation did not address all the “gap” issues. In particular, the issue of animal sentience was omitted. This omission prompted public dismay that animals would no longer have the protection of the EU declaration that they were sentient beings and led to a campaign calling on the Government to correct the omission. The Government promised to do so and eventually developed an Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill to take the place of the EU language. On April 28, 2022, the United Kingdom (UK) Government bill stating that animals are sentient received Royal Assent from Queen Elizabeth, meaning that the bill is now an Act, the law of the land. What does this new law mean in practice