New animal welfare notices are being used by Staffordshire County Council to protect animals across the region.

The notices give trading standards officers a more efficient and proportionate way of dealing with breaches of animal welfare and health legislation.  

It is hoped that the approach will allow for intervention to occur earlier and prevent harm to animals, with serious or deliberate offences still being dealt with through the courts.

Over the past 12 months, the authority's Trading Standards service has issued seven penalty notices to people breaking animal welfare rules.

Notices were issued for failures to protect animals from suffering, injury or death, breaking movement rules and for poor record keeping.   

Fines of up to £5000 can be used as an alternative to prosecution for certain offences although if penalty notices are not paid this could result in formal prosecution.

Anthony Screen, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Resilience at Staffordshire County Council, said: 

"Maintaining high standards of animal health and welfare is essential, both to prevent unnecessary suffering and to protect the wider farming and animal‑keeping community.

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"We take offending in this area extremely seriously and the introduction of the penalty notices gives our officers an additional enforcement option.  

"While the notices are appropriate in certain cases, it does not lessen the authority's commitment to taking strong action. 

"The notices give us a faster, fairer way to deal with welfare breaches, supporting early action while keeping tough measures for serious cases.

"Where individuals fail to meet their legal responsibilities, they will be brought to task and could face prosecution."

Anyone with a concern relating to animal welfare and health should contact Trading Standards Confidential on 01785 330356 or by visiting the website.