Animal Health and Welfare Strategy
The Strategy has been developed to provide a comprehensive, strategic approach to animal health and welfare. The Strategy provides a vision of a Northern Ireland where standards of animal health and welfare are amongst the highest in the world, and where all stakeholders fully understand and accept their roles and responsibilities. To meet this theme, the Strategy adopts five key themes as a framework to help meet this vision. These are:-
- Key theme 1 - understanding and accepting roles and responsibilities;
- key theme 2 - working in partnership;
- Key theme 3 - a clearer understanding of costs and benefits of animal health and welfare;
- Key theme 4 - promoting the benefits of animal health and welfare - prevention is better than cure; and
- Key theme 5 - ensuring effective delivery and enforcement.
The Strategy reflects Northern Ireland’s geographical position within the Island of Ireland and the corresponding work on seeking an agreed strategic approach to animal health and welfare across the island. The Strategy also addresses Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DARD) commitment to produce a strategy that is consistent, in terms of its principles and outcomes, with the GB Strategy published in 2004.