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Review: Animal Welfare & Control (including the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202-)

Committee/Panel: Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel
Launch Date: 4 December 2025
Review Status: Report published Submissions Deadline: 15 January 2026
Review Report: Animal Welfare & Control Review Report - S.R.7/2026

About

The Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Panel is reviewing the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202- (P.97/2025), which proposes to update Jersey’s framework for protecting animal welfare and sets out new powers for licensing, enforcement, and standards of care. Alongside the Draft Law, the Review will examine how Jersey regulates the control of animals in public spaces, including dogs, to identify gaps, overlaps, and areas where responsibilities between agencies are unclear. 

The key issues identified for this Review include: 

  • Whether the Draft Law achieves its aim of modernising Jersey’s animal welfare framework and establishing a proactive, prevention-based model
  • Whether the balance between Ministerial powers and legislative oversight in the Draft Law is appropriate
  • The proportionality, workability and resourcing implications of the Draft Law’s enforcement powers, penalties and improvement notice regime
  • The impact of the Draft Law’s proposed licensing and regulatory requirements on animal welfare organisations, and animal businesses such as, but not limited to, farmers, breeders and activity operators
  • Use of order-making powers to introduce substantive policy changes
  • The adequacy and robustness of the Draft Law’s consultation process
  • How the Draft Law will interface with the existing statutory framework governing dogs, and whether the combined system provides a coherent and effective approach to animal welfare, ownership, control and public protection
  • The extent of fragmentation and inconsistency within existing dog-related legislation, including dog ownership, behaviour and controls in public places
  • Whether the respective roles, responsibilities and powers of Parishes, enforcement officers and the Department are clear, aligned and workable across the Draft Law and dog-related legislation
  • Whether current enforcement mechanisms and provisions under dog-related legislation remain appropriate and fit for purpose as part of the wider framework

Terms of reference

  1. To examine whether the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202- is fit for purpose and how it will meet its intended aims of:
    1. replacing the Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 2004 to shift from a reactive enforcement model towards a proactive, prevention-based system,
    2. aligning with modern scientific understanding of animal sentience and current UK and EU welfare standards, and
    3. granting the Minister with greater flexibility to respond quickly to new scientific developments or welfare guidance.
 
  1. To identify any effects, resource implications and/or unintended consequences of the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202- on enforcement officers, animal welfare organisations, animal-activity operators, pet-owners and the wider public.
 
  1. To assess the structure of the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202-, including the provision for order-making powers and the role of secondary legislation.
 
  1. To examine the coherence, clarity and effectiveness of the existing statutory framework governing dog ownership, behaviour and control.
 
  1. To evaluate the coherence and compatibility of the Draft Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 202-, the Dogs (Jersey) Law 1961 and Policing of Beaches, Parks and Roads Regulations as a combined framework, including:
    1. gaps, overlaps or inconsistencies between the regimes,
    2. alignment of enforcement powers across relevant bodies,
    3. the effectiveness of the combined model for welfare, ownership and public protection, and
    4. whether consolidation is desirable.