Sunday 30 May 2021

Government Action Plan for Animal Welfare

The Policy paper was published by Government in May 2021,  the part devoted to pet animals is detailed below, the government has stated that the following steps are now to engage with all key parties to develop their plans, the remainder of this Parliament is set to implement proposals through a programme of primary legislation including the Animal Welfare Sentience Bill, the Kept Animals Bill and the Animals Abroad Bill, there will also be secondary legislation along with other non-legislative measures.

From the Policy paper:

Pets are central to so many families and we want to ensure their welfare is protected, and that sporting animals are cared for responsibly.

One of our key reforms here is to end the abhorrent, cruel practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports. Now the transition period has finished, and we have left the EU, we have the opportunity to go further than ever. We have been working closely with our colleagues across the devolved administrations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide protection for those animals brought in by these unscrupulous traders, and to prevent the trade as much as we can.

We committed to cracking down on puppy smuggling in our manifesto. We will legislate to reduce the number of pet dogs, cats and ferrets that can be moved under the pet travel rules which apply to non-commercial movements. This will prevent unscrupulous traders from exploiting our pet travel rules.

We will also bring in powers which enable us to go further, to:

  • increase the minimum age that dogs can be non-commercially moved or commercially imported into Great Britain

  • restrict the ability of unscrupulous traders to move heavily pregnant dogs into Great Britain both commercially and non-commercially

  • prioritise the health and welfare of dogs by prohibiting the importation and non-commercial movement of dogs into Great Britain that have been subject to low welfare practices, such as ear cropping or tail docking, in line with our domestic legislation on these practices

We will crack down on pet theft, which is reported to have increased markedly since the start of the pandemic, knowing the devastating impact this offence, and the fear of it, can have on families and pet owners. We have worked across government to set up a taskforce to tackle this issue. This taskforce will:

  • gather, research and commission work to build a clear evidence base of the scale of any issue

  • consider the issue from end to end, including causes, prevention, reporting, enforcement, prosecution and sentencing

  • make clear and timely recommendations on ways to improve the situation around pet theft

We will introduce compulsory cat microchipping to ensure lost or stolen cats can be reunited with their owners as quickly as possible. In addition, we are reviewing the operation of the current microchip database systems, which also apply to dogs, with a view to introducing improvements.

We are also considering reforms to provide greater assurance that microchip database information is checked appropriately, for example in cases where healthy dogs are presented to vets for euthanasia, as campaigned for via the ‘Tuk’s Law’ movement.

We will also:

  • continue our initiatives to educate the public on how to source dogs and cats responsibly. Launched in March 2020, our National ‘Petfished’ Communications Campaign aims to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets

  • pursue the licensing of animal sanctuaries, rescue and rehoming centres including for cats, dogs and horses

  • consider changes to equine identification and traceability to improve biosecurity and animal welfare with key stakeholders, and we plan to consult on proposals later in the year

  • ban remote controlled electronic training collars (‘e-collars’), given their scope to harm cats and dogs

  • consider further protections for racing greyhounds, including further steps to raise welfare standards at trainers’ kennels

  • ensure the horse racing sector addresses key animal welfare issues such as fatality levels

  • ensure that dangerous dogs legislation continues to provide effective public safety controls

  • continue to commit to maintaining high standards of protection where procedures are undertaken on live animals for scientific or educational purposes