Effectiveness of Pet Shop Grading Scheme to Raise Animal Welfare Standards and Industry's Professionalism
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns an inquiry by Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang regarding the effectiveness of the Pet Shop Grading Scheme in improving animal welfare and industry professionalism. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee stated that the National Parks Board (NParks) discontinued the scheme in July 2023 because annual assessments failed to ensure that shops maintained consistent standards between inspections. NParks now focuses on enforcing licensing conditions through regular inspections and investigations, with powers to suspend or revoke licenses for any errant practices. Minister for National Development Desmond Lee noted that the current regulatory regime has led to improved industry compliance and better animal welfare standards over time. To assist the public, NParks maintains a published list of licensed pet shops on its website to help prospective owners make informed decisions.
Transcript
75 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development whether an update can be provided on the effectiveness of the Pet Shop Grading Scheme in terms of raising the standards of animal welfare and professionalism in the pet retail industry.
Mr Desmond Lee: The Pet Shop Grading Scheme was introduced in 2007 by then-Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA). Pet shops were graded according to their compliance with the pet shop licence conditions, as well as adoption of industry best practices.
As gradings were issued based on an annual assessment at a given point of time, they would not reflect whether pet shops had maintained their standards between assessments. Some pet shops might, therefore, have lapses after obtaining good grades. Hence, the National Parks Board (NParks) decided to discontinue the grading scheme in July 2023.
Notwithstanding this, licensed pet shops are required to comply with NParks’ licence conditions and are encouraged to adopt best practices to enhance animal welfare. NParks will continue to regularly review the licence conditions and inspect pet shops for compliance with these conditions. NParks will also investigate all feedback on errant practices and take appropriate enforcement action against any breaches in licence conditions, such as by suspending or revoking a pet shop’s licence. The list of licensed pet shops is published on NParks’ website. Prospective pet owners can refer to the list when deciding on a pet shop.
With our regulatory regime, pet shops have shown improvement in complying with licence conditions over the years, as well as in safeguarding animal welfare.