Founders
Rona Brown
a world renowned animal consultant/trainer/HOD in movies such as Gorillas in the Mist and Anna & the King.
Peter Scott
a leading UK veterinary surgeon also working in film and TV on such films as Fierce Creatures, 101 and 102 Dalmatians
About PAWSI
- PAWSI was an evolution from work led by Rona Brown.
- Rona first established the Animal Filming Training Commission (AFTC) and involved Peter Scott, John Barrt, Gerry & Cathy Cott and RSPCA representatives to develop an NVQ training structure for the film industry lead body Skillset.
- When AFTC had done its job Rona Brown and Peter Scott continued looking at standards for on set welfare and met with various groups such as ACTA and the AHA, ultimately forming PAWSI in 2000.
- Rona and Peter involved the then Chief Veterinary Officer of the RSPCA Chris Laurence and his Deputy CVO Steve Cheetham in developing the structure of the standards.
- When the standards were ready to be launched PAWSI then became involved with DEFRA and its Animal Welfare Bill team which showed interest in PAWSI perhaps becoming the industry regulatory body. PAWSI was then asked to begin development of standards for circus and other live performance as well as film and TV. PAWSI felt that that it would be inappropriate for it to become a regulatory body, its founders stablished it as an honest broker to help bring informatipn and people together and to drive good welfare
- In 2006 the PAWSI Council was formed and at the first meeting to discuss a structure and constitution was held at the offices of the Dogs Trust and attended by representatives of DEFRA, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly, Dogs Trust, Association of Circus Proprietors (ACP), Animal Consultants and Trainers Association (ACTA), Production Guild, Equity, Sparsholt College, BIAZA
- Detailed standards have been developed and a registration scheme for trainers and animal suppliers fleshed out and offered to the industry. Veterinary inspectors will check these and UKAS approval for the scheme will be sought.
- in 2010 a new body Performing Animal Welfare Council (PAWC) was set up to bring together all the groups working with animals in entertainment. This is still a work in progress, and PAWSI have offered the standards which they completed some time ago and provided to DEFRA and industry as a starting point.
PAWSI Council
A great number of experts were contacted and many attended a meeting with regulators in 2006 to look at how the industry could take welfare forward. This group looked at the potential standards and how a system could operate.
Attendees to PAWSI Council @ March 2006 Rona Brown, Peter Scott FRCVS, Tanya Steel
plus represenetives of various other organisations
ACTA- Jamie Crittall MRCVS, Jim Clubb Independent vet/ RCVS - Stephen Ware MRCVS Circus/stage - Malcolm Clay ACP, Martin Lacey, Martin Burton, Chris Barltrop BIAZA - Miranda Stevenson Welfare - Chris Laurence MRCVS Dogs Trust, Mike Flynn SSPCA, Robin Taylor-Milton Sparsholt College Production- David Martin Production Guild
Observers DEFRA - Henry Hoppe, Graham Thurlow, Laura John Scottish Executive - Ian Strachan Welsh Assembly - Alun Streeter RSPCA - Rob Atkins
Others having agreed to join but unable to attend personally: Marthe Kiley-Worthington, Christine Payne (Equity)
Attendees to PAWSI Council @ March 2006 Rona Brown, Peter Scott FRCVS, Tanya Steel
plus represenetives of various other organisations
ACTA- Jamie Crittall MRCVS, Jim Clubb Independent vet/ RCVS - Stephen Ware MRCVS Circus/stage - Malcolm Clay ACP, Martin Lacey, Martin Burton, Chris Barltrop BIAZA - Miranda Stevenson Welfare - Chris Laurence MRCVS Dogs Trust, Mike Flynn SSPCA, Robin Taylor-Milton Sparsholt College Production- David Martin Production Guild
Observers DEFRA - Henry Hoppe, Graham Thurlow, Laura John Scottish Executive - Ian Strachan Welsh Assembly - Alun Streeter RSPCA - Rob Atkins
Others having agreed to join but unable to attend personally: Marthe Kiley-Worthington, Christine Payne (Equity)
Trainers
DEFRA has produced the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which was to have absorbed the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925, this requires any person who exhibits or trains any performing (vertebrate) animal to be registered with a local authority. The term “exhibit” is defined as “exhibit at any entertainment to which the public are admitted, whether on payment of money or otherwise…”and to “train” means “train for the purpose of any such exhibition”.
This provision, applies to circuses and also to other situations, such as cabarets and film making and plays, that involve animal performances and there is no exemption for excluding zoos. The definitions in the Act also appear to cover some of the training and performance with animals that takes place in zoos. However, it might be expected that training that was carried out to assist in the routine management of an animal (and not intended as preparation of a performance) would not involve registration.
A person who exhibits or trains a performing animal must be registered; eg circuses, cabarets, film making etc.
Whatever system is brought into place to cover circuses (and something WILL appear), it is difficult to see how this will not affect trainers taking animals for film purposes.
PAWSI have been instrumental in setting up the NVQ system for animal trainers working in the audio-visual industry now offered by Sparsholt College. Many trainers have now started working through this system.
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS IS MOVING TOWARDS USING QUALIFIED STAFF - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
This provision, applies to circuses and also to other situations, such as cabarets and film making and plays, that involve animal performances and there is no exemption for excluding zoos. The definitions in the Act also appear to cover some of the training and performance with animals that takes place in zoos. However, it might be expected that training that was carried out to assist in the routine management of an animal (and not intended as preparation of a performance) would not involve registration.
A person who exhibits or trains a performing animal must be registered; eg circuses, cabarets, film making etc.
Whatever system is brought into place to cover circuses (and something WILL appear), it is difficult to see how this will not affect trainers taking animals for film purposes.
PAWSI have been instrumental in setting up the NVQ system for animal trainers working in the audio-visual industry now offered by Sparsholt College. Many trainers have now started working through this system.
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS IS MOVING TOWARDS USING QUALIFIED STAFF - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Production
DEFRA has produced the Animal Welfare Act 2006 which was to have absorbed the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925, this requires any person who exhibits or trains any performing (vertebrate) animal to be registered with a local authority. The term “exhibit” is defined as “exhibit at any entertainment to which the public are admitted, whether on payment of money or otherwise…”and to “train” means “train for the purpose of any such exhibition”.
This provision, applies to circuses and also to other situations, such as cabarets and film making and plays, that involve animal performances and there is no exemption for excluding zoos. The definitions in the Act also appear to cover some of the training and performance with animals that takes place in zoos. However, it might be expected that training that was carried out to assist in the routine management of an animal (and not intended as preparation of a performance) would not involve registration.
A person who exhibits or trains a performing animal must be registered; eg circuses, cabarets, film making etc.
Whatever system is brought into place to cover circuses (and something WILL appear), it is difficult to see how this will not affect trainers taking animals for film purposes.
PAWSI have been instrumental in setting up the NVQ system for animal trainers working in the audio-visual industry now offered by Sparsholt College. Many trainers have now started working through this system.
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS IS MOVING TOWARDS USING QUALIFIED STAFF - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
This provision, applies to circuses and also to other situations, such as cabarets and film making and plays, that involve animal performances and there is no exemption for excluding zoos. The definitions in the Act also appear to cover some of the training and performance with animals that takes place in zoos. However, it might be expected that training that was carried out to assist in the routine management of an animal (and not intended as preparation of a performance) would not involve registration.
A person who exhibits or trains a performing animal must be registered; eg circuses, cabarets, film making etc.
Whatever system is brought into place to cover circuses (and something WILL appear), it is difficult to see how this will not affect trainers taking animals for film purposes.
PAWSI have been instrumental in setting up the NVQ system for animal trainers working in the audio-visual industry now offered by Sparsholt College. Many trainers have now started working through this system.
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY IN ALL DEPARTMENTS IS MOVING TOWARDS USING QUALIFIED STAFF - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
News
PAWSI have been assisting DEFRA and DCMS with looking at the structure of trained animals in the entertainment industry.
Whilst Government is focussed on circus (a hot potato with many many detractors) it is trying to be fair to that industry and to avoid collateral damage to the other entertainment areas which use trained animals: film, TV, advertising, dancing dogs, certain aspects of horse shows etc etc.
There has been major interest in the entertainment industry generally (NOT just circus) trying to develop a structure animal welfare inspections to ensure that things are done properly.
Whilst Government is focussed on circus (a hot potato with many many detractors) it is trying to be fair to that industry and to avoid collateral damage to the other entertainment areas which use trained animals: film, TV, advertising, dancing dogs, certain aspects of horse shows etc etc.
There has been major interest in the entertainment industry generally (NOT just circus) trying to develop a structure animal welfare inspections to ensure that things are done properly.
Contact
• PAWSI invite contact and comment from all interested parties.- We can’t promise to respond to every contact but all contacts will be read and considered.
- Requests for confidentiality will be honoured.
- An integral part of the operation of any welfare monitoring scheme is the informed casual observer, we welcome the factual comments of observers who feel that something was not done properly. Obviously to act we need substantiation and evidence BUT useful background comment is always valuable.
- Sometimes what appears wrong is simply misinterpreted. An occasion some years ago on a film set occurred where a member of the crew reported to the RSPCA that an animal was being fed tranquilizers continually and taken off set and beaten between shots. On investigation it transpired that it was being given raisins as a treat and between shots was being allowed to enjoy noisy play in its holding cage alongside the stage where rightly non-animal staff were prohibited. DESPITE THIS THE OBSERVER WAS RIGHT TO CONFIDENTIALLY VOICE THEIR CONCERN
PAWSI INSPECTORATE PO Box 60, WInchester SO23 9XN
Animal Rights
We have no intention of getting into an animal rights argument. We respect that others have different views and simply wish that they would do similarly. Our stance is that people have responsibilities to look after the animals which are in their care, we completely support the Animal Welfare Act. The Founders and supporters of PAWSI have worked tirelessly at their own expense to improve the lot of animals in entertainment.
The chance to see animals 'working' in film, TV etc should be good and enriching. The day we cannot do this will be sad day for animals, which will then suffer as out of sight, out of mind. People with other priorities will not work for conservation etc. The Amazon Rainforest is being lost at a rate of an area the size of 20 tennis courts every second, and a species is lost every 10 minutes
Animals in entertainment is simply not what many of the detractors suggest. The recent elephant case is used to criticise circus, yet as soon as that was reported to the circus the worker was sacked and the elephant act returned to Germany. Those taking the video did not make it public and the abuse continued until they gave up trying to catch the actual circus proprietor of abuse - which they did not. In delaying they colluded in abuse.
The chance to see animals 'working' in film, TV etc should be good and enriching. The day we cannot do this will be sad day for animals, which will then suffer as out of sight, out of mind. People with other priorities will not work for conservation etc. The Amazon Rainforest is being lost at a rate of an area the size of 20 tennis courts every second, and a species is lost every 10 minutes
Animals in entertainment is simply not what many of the detractors suggest. The recent elephant case is used to criticise circus, yet as soon as that was reported to the circus the worker was sacked and the elephant act returned to Germany. Those taking the video did not make it public and the abuse continued until they gave up trying to catch the actual circus proprietor of abuse - which they did not. In delaying they colluded in abuse.
