Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Amendment Act coming into force

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 has received Royal Assent which makes it law, it will update the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act from 1953.

The new legislation will come into effect on Wednesday 18 March 2026 and applied to England and Wales.

The act: 

• is worded so that attacking livestock is treated separately from worrying livestock. This reframing helps make the violent nature of livestock attacks much clearer. It doesn’t create a new offence as both behaviours are already covered in the 1953 act, but it does make the distinction explicit 

• extends the law to cover livestock worrying and attacks that take place on roads and paths 

• includes camelids (as llamas and alpacas are commonly farmed) 

• introduces a new defence for dog owners to exempt them from liability where the dog was in the charge of another person at the time of the offence without the owner’s consent, for instance if the dog was stolen  

• introduces new powers allowing a court to order an offender to pay expenses associated with seizing and detaining a dog  

• provides a clear deterrent by increasing the penalty from a fine of up to £1,000 to an unlimited fine

In addition, the law gives police new and improved powers to improve their investigations, including: 

• the power to seize and detain a dog where they have reasonable grounds to believe there is a risk that the dog could attack or worry livestock again. The dog can be detained until an investigation has been carried out or, if proceedings are brought for an offence, until those proceedings have been determined or withdrawn 

• the power to take samples and impressions from a dog or livestock where the police have reasonable grounds to believe the dog has attacked or worried the livestock, and that a sample or impression might provide evidence of an offence. The sample or impression could then be used as evidence to support a prosecution 

• the powers to enter and search premises to identify, seize and detain a dog for the prevention of future incidents, to collect samples or impressions, or seize any other evidence

UK Gov Petition-Central Microchip Portal Needed

You can Sign and Share the Petition Here -https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/748648

Introduce a Central Microchip Portal to help reunite missing pets without delay:

In March 2024, the previous Government said it would make scanning, checking & reuniting lost & abducted pets more effective by introducing a central portal for approved users-vets, local authorities & police-to search all records instantly, instead of contacting databases individually.
This has not happened.

There are currently 23 government-compliant databases and cross-checking them is seen by many as an 'administrative burden. 

A central portal could reunite lost & abducted pets with families in minutes. 

The portal could make registrations easier to access, increase scanning & checking rates, and lead to more reunites. 

We believe this is a vital step to make pet microchipping work. We call on the government to deliver the central portal now to make chips count.

Fireworks Parliamentary Debate

The petitions committee scheduled a Westminster Hall debate for Monday 19 January at 4:30pm and MPs have now debated two petitions relating to the sale of fireworks.

You can read a transcript of the debate here:

http://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-01-19/debates/C0AE7A79-B8C1-4E33-8CB7-A9AAD98B62E6/SaleOfFireworks

The debate can be watched online here: 

https://www.youtube.com/live/G1ntVoBByDE

The first petition:

"Reduce the maximum noise level for consumer fireworks from 120 to 90 decibels"

The petition, which has received more than 179,000 signatures, states: "We think each year, individuals suffer because of loud fireworks. We believe horses, dogs, cats, livestock and wildlife can be terrified by noisy fireworks and many people find them intolerable."

Open for Signatures: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/738192

Second Petition:

"Limit the sale of fireworks to those running local council approved events only"

The petition, which has received more than 191,000 signatures, states: "Ban the sale of fireworks to the general public to minimise the harm caused to vulnerable people and animals. Defenceless animals can die from the distress caused by fireworks. I believe that permitting unregulated use of fireworks is an act of wide-scale cruelty to animals."

Open for Signatures: Limit the sale of fireworks to those running local council approved events only - Petitions