Cage & Aviary Birds Magazine Cage & Aviary Birds 5765 Back Issue

How well are fanciers in Britain and Ireland served by our import laws? OK, touch-paper lit, so I’ll stand back. No law anywhere has ever pleased everybody, and of course our regulations on bringing birds into the country are a classic set of compromises between interest groups. The import law that affects more birdkeepers than any other is, no doubt, the one that forbids the trade of wild-caught birds coming into the EU. Now, by and large, it seems to me that fanciers have coped well with this drastic change – to their credit. However, there are arguments against the ban on the grounds that it isn’t working; that there’s an ungovernable black market with birds flooding in to the EU via certain notorious access points; and furthermore that the bird flu that prompted the ban has in
fact proved manageable. This week on page 2 we report on a new petition to lift the ban, and it’s been fascinating to read the views of various informed fanciers. Where do you stand? Fire off your letters or emails and we’ll print the most interesting. Also weighing in on the subject of import laws this week is David Alderton, on page 16: David reckons the rules for dogs make nonsense of those for birds. Do you agree? Thursday, August 15, 2013 will be a momentous day in the history of Cage & Aviary Birds. It marks the retirement, after 30 years’ service, of our greatly respected and loved
editorial administrator, Lynn Sullivan. “Ed admin” doesn’t begin to cover Lynn’s contribution, of course. As a key organiser of the former National Exhibition, she gained a peerless knowledge of the fancy and its people, which has served both readers and colleagues for decades. We all
wish Lynn the happiest of retirements.