Valley Vets Mark Evans Guilty under Animal Welfare Act 2006?

Valley Vets Mark Evans Guilty under Animal Welfare Act 2006?

Mark Evans (the vet employed by the vale of glamorgan council) attended my home, a with Animal Licensing officer Amanda Ewington Gape.

Before they arrived our tortoises were kept on suitable substrate (what they walk on) and given a very good environment. This is evident in these two photographs.

Section 9  of the Animal Welfare Act 2006

Duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare

states:

1. A person commits an offence if he does not take such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the needs of an animal for which he is responsible are met to the extent required by good practice.
2. For the purpose of this Act, an animal’s needs shall be taken to include-

1. its needs for a suitable environment
2. Its need for a suitable diet
3. It’s need to be able to exhibit normal behavioural patterns
4. Any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals, and
5. It’s need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

The photograph below, shows the appalling way, in which Mark Evans treated these tortoises. He was supposed to be IMPROVING the environment not make them suffer. As you can see, not even a single sheet of newspaper or any form of substrate, did he provide them with, to avoid them slipping and becoming stressed on the bare plastic trays. 

There are other photographs, which confirm how Mark Evans also left these tortoises, without any shade, protection, or water, from the mid day July sunshine. I made him provide them with shade.

This whole episode, was even more cruel, because the Animal Licensing officer Amanda Ewington Gape, just stood there and allowed this to happen.

Two days after this dreadful situation took place, I instructed my solicitor to write to the vale of glamorgan council, and raise my deep concerns at the manner in which, these two council employees, conducted themselves. So called professionals. When you understand this was done by a vet, and a vet who says he specialises in reptiles, the whole situation must be considered appalling, cruel and a dereliction of his professional duty.

I also raised complaint with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, about the lack of care shown by Mark Evans, for these tortoises. That complaint of course fell on deaf ears, as they primarily exist to protect their own members.

I  subsequently tried issuing a private prosecution against Mark Evans and Amanda Ewington Gape in Cardiff Magistrates Court. My application was refused, but not because of any lack of ‘Merit’ but simply the Magistrate ruled, I was ‘out of time.’

It would appear to me, Mark Evans and Animal Licensing officer Amanda Ewington Gape, were both, by evidence of the above single photograph, guilty under all sections of Section 9, of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

What do you think?