The Chief Veterinarian Officer Nigel Gibbens for Defra invited all members of the Companion Animal Strategy group, which is made up representatives from the Bird, Reptile, Rabbit and Fish sectors, to a meeting at Defra Headquarters. This was to hear how he would like to see this project develop, now that the England Implementation Group has been disbanded. There was no formal agenda, but the discussion was around further developing the strategy approach begun by the EIG, with each strategy group identifying where they actually are in terms of health and welfare, and identifying topics within the strategy which can be developed as action points.
 
Speaking for the bird sector (also the other sectors), I felt that getting good quality information out would be a major step forward addressing health and welfare - so the ongoing development of overarching Good Practice Guidelines and the production of specific care sheets should continue. It was agreed  that veterinarian Peter Scott should continue to leave the whole companion Animal Group reporting direct to the Chief Veterinarian officer thus, as it were, cutting out the middle tier and making the whole process leaner and quicker.
 
The codes of practice for Cats, Dogs and privately kept Primates has been completed and will go before Parliament before the 6th April next year and work has already begun on live animals in circuses. However we were told that with the forthcoming election there would be no more work done on other sections until a new Government is installed and Mr Gibbens said that would give us a good time window to complete our own Best Practice Guidelines for Birds so when this area was revisited by Defra a BPG would already be in place.

Colin O'Hara, Chairman Bird Welfare Strategy group, 15 December, 2009