Petition to replace DDA/BSL with new legislation:

 Signatures Needed for the current and latest Government e-Petition which is open for signatures until April 2023. 

At 10,000 signatures the Government will give a written response and at 100,000 signatures, if reached, the Government will consider a debate in Parliament, raising awareness and keeping the pressure on for smarter dog law.

Sign Here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624876

The Petition reads as below:

Repeal the current Dangerous Dogs Act and replace with new framework

We want the Government to repeal the Dangerous Dogs Act and replace it with legislation that focuses on early intervention to prevent dog bites and tackle dog-related issues regardless of breed or type, based solely on their behaviour

The Government commissioned a steering group to provide advice on policies aimed at reducing dog attacks and promoting responsible ownership of dogs. However, their report is not due until next year.

In view of shocking and tragic events that continue to result from the current legislation, urgent action is required NOW, in the interest of public safety and the welfare of dogs. Organisations involved in the Government's steering group oppose Breed Specific Legislation and agree breed is not a prediction of aggressive behaviour. We believe the current legislation is enabling more fatalities and failing to prevent the dog attack trend. It needs repeal immediately.

UK Gov Petition-Kept Animals Bill:

At 100,000 signatures the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament:

View and sign here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/619442

Open to the 23rd January 2023

Find the time to take the Kept Animals Bill through Parliament and make it law

Hundreds of thousands of people signed numerous petitions calling for actions that the Government has included in the Kept Animals Bill. The Government should urgently find time to allow the Bill to complete its journey through Parliament and become law.

The Government promised to find time to take this bill through the next parliamentary stages so it can receive Royal Assent and become law, yet we are still waiting. For the Government to live up to its claims to be leading the way in animal welfare there must be no further delay to this legislation becoming law.

Her Majesty The Queen

 

Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II

April 1926 ~ September 2022

by Eleanor Tomlinson Art

"𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 ~

“Well,” said the Queen to the little bear “where do you go from here”

“I am not sure your majesty” Paddington bear answered with a tear

“You see the Browns have all grown up and gone on their separate way”

Paddington continued “I am now homeless as I have nowhere else to stay”

“Well, my little friend” the Queen replied to him “this will never do at all”

“I too am all alone you can move into my palace I’m sure we will have a ball”

The little bear looked up and asked “will there be marmalade dear Queen”

Of course, she replied “the biggest spread of sandwiches you’ve ever seen”

“And cups of tea and crockery that you can drop and I will never never mind”

The little bear replied “your majesty I accept your offer you are very very kind”

Words by John Sullivan"

Pets (Microchips) Bill Presented:

 James Daly Conservative MP for Bury North presented his Private Members Bill to Parliament on 12th July and writes: 

I presented my Pets (Microchips) Bill to the House. This begins the process of moving towards it becoming law. This is a Bill that is very close to my heart as an animal lover and it brings together the campaigns of Tuk's Law and Gizmo's Law.

Tuks Law and Gizmo's Law are both campaigns that aim to help pets and their owners - potentially saving animals from unnecessary euthanasia and reconnecting cat owners with their pets if they are found deceased by local authorities.

Gizmo's Law

Gizmo's Legacy is a campaign that was set up, right here in Bury North, to ensure that Local Authorities are compelled to scan the microchips of deceased cats that are found on a road or a pavement or that are otherwise reported to the LA. This could be following a road traffic accident or just a cat that has been found. This campaign is so important because our pets are an extension of our family and may families across the UK find their cats have gone missing, many who have been involved in an accident and, unlike dogs, there is no requirement for these to be reported to the LA - nor is there a requirement for Local Authorities to scan a microchip to identify the owner.

My Private Members' Bill will ensure that Local Authorities do scan cats and search the database associated with the microchip to find ownership details to try and reunify the owners with their pet.

Tuk's Law

Tuk was a 16-month-old rescue who was euthanised on 22 December 2017. He was not scanned prior to euthanasia and his Rescue Back Ups were not contacted/notified of his death. Tuk was euthanised whilst having full rescue back up, dually registered contact details on his microchip and was presented by an individual who was not his registered keeper.

It is unconscionable that anyone could take any animal to a vet and ask that they be put down, without the vet checking to see whether the person presenting the animal is the owner, nor contacting the registered keeper of Rescue Back Up to advise them of this. Tuk's Law asked that vets are compelled to scan microchips and contact the registered keeper and rescue backups when a healthy and treatable animal is presented to them for euthanasia.

My Private Members' Bill will ensure that Vets scan microchips and make contact with registered keepers and Rescue Back Ups of healthy and treatable animals presented to them for euthanasia. It will also require Government-endorsed pet microchip databases regarding pets in England to indicate when a pet has both a registered owner and a back-up rescuer.

BSL UK Gov Petition Update

MPs on the Commons Petitions Committee have expressed disappointment about the Government's response, and called for the Government to reconsider its decision not to review breed specific legislation.

Link to the full response here 

In June MPs on the Petitions Committee wrote to Jo Churchill MP, a then Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, expressing concern about the impact of breed-specific legislation – which bans the ownership of certain dog breeds – and the cost these provisions in the law had for some dogs.

The MPs put a number of questions to the department – including asking the Government if they’ll gather new evidence to help decide if reform is needed on the legislation, and how the Government will ensure welfare needs of all dogs held in kennels under the Dangerous Dogs Act are met.
The Committee also sought confirmation from the Government about what they were doing to protect dogs seized under the Dangerous Dogs Act who are subsequently found by a court to pose no danger to the public. The Committee asked if the Government would consider allowing the rehoming of such dogs by responsible organisations, and the removal of strict conditions that apply to all dogs of a banned breed that are allowed to return home.

Christina Rees MP, the member of the Petitions Committee who opened the most recent debate on breed specific legislation, said:
"Under current laws some breeds of dog can be kept in kennels for months pending lengthy court hearings, and often can’t be rehomed even when they pose no danger to the public. Hundreds of dogs are needlessly destroyed every year because of this cruel legislation.
"Public safety is paramount, but the law must be proportionate and not contribute to the unnecessary suffering of innocent animals.
"While I welcome the Government’s work with police forces to increase uptake of the interim exemption scheme - which allows dogs to be temporarily released and returned to their owners pending court hearings - much more needs to be done to protect the welfare of these dogs.
"I know petitioners and campaigners alike who have called for reform of breed specific legislation will be as disappointed as I am by the Government’s latest ‘copy and paste’ response on this issue."

Catherine McKinnell MP, Chair of the Petitions Committee, said:
"It is hugely disappointing that the Government appears to be completely unwilling to review breed specific provisions in the Dangerous Dogs Act.
"Since 2020, petitions calling for a change in the law to protect these innocent animals have received more than 350,000 signatures, and yet the Government has refused time and again to review legislation on banned breeds, or even gather new evidence on the risks of banned breeds and effectiveness of breed specific legislation.
"It is particularly disappointing the Minister has refused to even meet the person who started the most recent petition on this subject. The Government must recognise the significant public concern about these laws, and reconsider its decision not to review this."

Animal Welfare - Kept Animals Bill

The Bill's progress can be followed here - www.bills.parliament.uk/bills/2880

Launched by Government but not yet progressed through all stages needed to be passed as law.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will raise animal welfare standards in five key areas:

1) Puppy smuggling: The Government will introduce new powers to tackle the unethical trade of puppy smuggling by reducing the number of pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) that can travel under pet travel rules. It will also include powers for the Government to bring in further restrictions on the movement of pets on welfare grounds, for example by increasing the minimum age of imported puppies and restricting the import of pregnant dogs and dogs with mutilations such as cropped ears and tails.

2) Live exports: Live animals can endure excessively long journeys during export, causing distress and injury. EU rules prevented any changes to these journeys, but the UK Government is now free to pursue plans which would see a ban on the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening. We will become the first European country to end this practice.

3)Banning keeping primates as pets: Primates are highly intelligent animals with complex needs and require specialist care. The Government will deliver on its manifesto commitment to introduce a ban on keeping them as pets, ensuring that all primates being kept privately in England are being kept at zoo-level standards and that those unable to meet the standards are phased out.

4) Livestock worrying: The Bill will give new powers to the police to provide greater protection to livestock from dangerous and out of control dogs. The Bill will also extend this protection to other species such as llamas, ostriches and game birds.

5) Zoos: The Zoo Licensing Act will be amended to improve zoo regulations and ensure that zoos are doing more to contribute to conservation.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said:

The Kept Animals Bill will bring in some of the world’s highest and strongest protections for pets, livestock and kept wild animals.

As an independent nation outside the EU we are now able to go further than ever on animal welfare by banning the export of live animal exports for slaughter and fattening, prohibiting keeping primates as pets and bringing in new powers to tackle puppy smuggling.

This builds on the launch of our Action Plan for Animal Welfare and Animal Sentience Bill last month as part of our work to build on our status as a world leader on animal welfare.

Renting With Pets - No Blanket Ban:

 The UK Government has this month published a White Paper (not yet law) which plans to redress the balance between landlords and tenants in the private sector; one of the changes included is that tenants will be given the right to request a pet in their house, which the landlord must consider and cannot unreasonably refuse. T

The new measures will form part of the 'Renters Reform Bill' which is due to be introduced into Parliament later this year (2022).

Further info can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-fairer-private-rented-sector/a-fairer-private-rented-sector