The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (‘the 2008 Regulations’) came into force on 3 June with the effect that wing and web tagging have been added to the list of permitted procedures in the 2007 Regulations. This means that certain people are now legally able to carry out the wing and web tagging of birds for specified purposes. Wing and web tagging are permitted principally for certain farming purposes and for conservation purposes. The 2008 regulation and its Explanatory Memorandum are available from the Office of Public Sector Information website.
The details are as follows:
Farmed birds
Wing tagging and web tagging may only be carried out on farmed birds for the purposes of breed improvement programmes or testing for the presence of disease.
Non-farmed birds
Wing tagging and web tagging may only be carried out on birds other than farmed birds for conservation purposes (including education and captive breeding programmes) or for research.
Which persons can legally wing and web tag birds is governed by the Veterinary Surgeons Act (VSA) 1966. We consider that these procedures are ‘veterinary surgery’ within the terms of the VSA. The VSA requires veterinary surgery to be practiced only by a veterinary surgeon unless there is a specific exemption in or under the VSA. There is an exemption in the VSA which allows the owner of an animal used in agriculture or a person engaged or employed in caring for such an animal to perform minor surgery on the animal (otherwise than for reward). We consider that ‘minor surgery’ includes wing tagging and web tagging. Owners of birds used in agriculture (and their employees) will therefore be able to wing tag and web tag those birds for the purposes specified in the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007 as amended by the 2008 Regulations (as set out above). However, the VSA exemption for animals involved in agriculture does not extend to non-farmed birds tagged for conservation or research purposes. Therefore, under the VSA, only a veterinary surgeon can legally wing and web tag birds for such purposes.
The Department has carefully considered stakeholder input in relation to wing tagging and web tagging by lay persons, which was received both before and during the consultation on the amendment to the Mutilations Regulations. The Department considers that it would be appropriate for non-vets to be legally permitted to wing and web tag birds for conservation purposes. We therefore propose to make an Exemption Order under the VSA in relation to wing and web tagging. The proposed terms of the Exemption Order will be worked out over the coming weeks.
Between the coming into force of the amendment to the Mutilations Regulations and the coming into force of such an Exemption Order (anticipated to be Autumn 2008) only vets will legally be permitted to carry out wing and web tagging on birds for conservation and research purposes. We will work as quickly as possible to get the Exemption Order in place. Once drafted, the Exemption Order will need to be sent to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for a statutory consultation. We will also be consulting key stakeholders on this issue.
Page last modified: August 15, 2008