Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Friday 3rd February 2023
(1 year, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
This Bill has been years in the making. The principles behind the Bill have incredibly strong and widespread public support, as demonstrated by a recent survey commissioned by Save the Asian Elephants, including the support of over 80% of my constituents in Guildford. It has also been welcomed by other animal welfare organisations, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and World Animal Protection.
The Bill rightly has significant cross-party support and builds on this Conservative Government’s excellent track record on animal welfare. While we have had so many significant pieces of legislation brought forward to improve animal welfare in the time I have been a Member of Parliament, it is vital that we do not rest on our laurels. There is still a huge amount of work to be done in animal welfare domestically and internationally.
The Government’s action plan states:
“In line with setting a global example on animal welfare, we also want to make sure that businesses do not benefit from selling attractions, activities or experiences to tourists involving the unacceptable treatment of animals. For example, animals such as Asian elephants may be subjected to cruel and brutal training practices to ensure their obedience. We will legislate to ban the advertising and offering for sale here of specific, unacceptable practices abroad. Our intention is that this will steer tourists towards visiting attractions that involve animals being cared for and treated properly.”
Today, working closely with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials and Government Ministers, I am delighted to present the Bill. I look forward to hearing from the Minister the Government’s continued support for this legislation on Second Reading and as it progresses through each stage.
Why do we need this legislation? World Animal Protection UK kindly wrote to me earlier this month with “The Real Responsible Traveller” report, based on independent research carried out by the University of Surrey in my Guildford constituency. The report presented an assessment of nine of the world’s leading travel attraction experience companies and tour operators on their commitment to wildlife-friendly tourism. Although two big-name companies have worked with World Animal Protection to proactively remove captive wildlife entertainment from their businesses, five of the most influential travel companies in the UK continue to sell harmful, exploitative wildlife experiences, such as swimming with dolphins, wildlife shows, big cat petting and selfies, animal rides and bathing.
Some of the methods used to train these highly intelligent animals to perform include: depriving dolphins of food so they will perform; confining dolphins to tanks 200,000 times smaller than their natural home range—the tanks are nearly always featureless, with little mental stimulation—separating elephant calves from their mothers at a young age, restraining them with only minimal movement and keeping them in isolation to break them; and subjecting elephants to violent training regimes, such as repeated beatings with hooks and sticks, as well as reducing their natural roaming range, which varies from between 30 and 600 sq km in the wild. I encourage anyone watching the debate today to follow the social media accounts of Save the Asian Elephants. One cannot fail to be moved by the plight of these graceful animals being subjected to barbaric treatment.
However, it is sadly not just animals that are at risk. I was briefly able to meet and chat to Helen Costigan when Save the Asian Elephants CEO Duncan McNair, other parliamentarians and I presented a petition to Downing Street last week. Helen suffered the devastating loss of her 20-year-old sister, Andrea, on a visit to Thailand in 2000, when an elephant trained by the methods I have outlined charged. Helen said that they did not understand the dangers or the abuse that elephants face. She rightly pointed out that for a normal person going on holiday, asking whether things are ethical is not at the forefront of their mind. She has worked incredibly hard over the intervening years to make sure that others do not have to experience her grief and loss.
It is perhaps not for this Bill today, but it is important to think about social media influencers, who use their accounts to promote these sorts of activities. They may not be one of the companies we are targeting today, but they often receive money, payment and an endorsement for promoting these activities. It is perhaps not for this legislation, but we need to look at how we can effectively target the online influencers in this space as well.
I was pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) was able to bring this subject before the House last week in an Adjournment debate on animal welfare in overseas tourism. He was able to go into significant detail about the impact of low animal welfare on several species, and I encourage right hon. and hon. Members to read his contribution. The other impact that he described was the impact on humans: the risk from Asian elephants, cruelly trained—beyond crushed organs, broken limbs and serious head injuries—of the transmission of deadly tuberculosis via their large volume of exhalation. He also referred to concerns about the potential transmission of other airborne pathogens. We have only to look at the past few years, during which we have experienced a virus with zoonotic origins, to know that we need to be careful about this sort of activity as well.
What, then, does the Bill seek to do? Clauses 1 and 2 set up a framework of offences involving the sale and advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad. Clause 3 outlines penalties, prosecutions and liabilities for the offence or offences, including disapplying section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and article 19 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. This means that complex cases for prosecution can exceed the usual six-month time limit. Clause 4 provides relevant enforcement powers, and clause 5 establishes procedures for making regulations in the UK Parliament and the Northern Ireland legislature.
My understanding from discussions with officials is that following Royal Assent, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will be able to consider consulting on the first application of the new powers in the Bill. There will be many, along with me, who look forward to the first of a series of regulations being put in place through statutory instruments following the successful completion of the Bill’s passage.
Clause 7 deals with the territorial extent of the Bill. I respect the power of the devolved Administrations to choose which pieces of UK Government legislation they wish to consent to, but I would gently point to the UK-wide support for this Bill and the vigorous campaigning efforts of organisations such as Save The Asian Elephants. I am sure that my colleagues in Scotland and Wales can expect to hear from its chief executive, Duncan McNair, without delay—especially as, I am delighted to say, he is in the Public Gallery today watching the progress of the Bill very carefully.
Time does not permit me to speak any longer, but I look forward to hearing from other Members who will be speaking about this important Bill.
Luke Pollard (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank the hon. Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for introducing the Bill, and for speaking so passionately. There is cross-party concern in this place about the treatment of animals abroad, and the Bill constitutes an important first step in restricting the advertising and offering for sale of tourist products that could involve animals. This is one part of a larger process.
I, too, feel passionate about this issue, as a result of not only my time on the Front Bench as a member of the shadow environment team, but my time working for the Association of British Travel Agents, and my previous work with tourism companies such as Thomas Cook. Much good work has been done by the industry on a voluntary basis, but it is clear that far too many people still do not regard the sale of tourism elements involving animals as something awful, which in my view it is, and we therefore need to ensure that this legislation is passed and properly implemented.
The hon. Member for Guildford mentioned dolphins. In the context of the use of animals in tourism products, “dolphin selfies” are quite common. This practice causes incredible stress to the animals. We know that dolphins and other sea creatures are sentient and feel pain, and the treatment involved in getting a dolphin to swim next to people and perform when they take their selfies—and to do that time and again for everyone in the queue on that day, let alone every other day—is horrendous.
It is important that we take steps to reduce the sale of these tourism attractions, but we must also take steps to work with destinations to remove them in the first place, or to improve the animal welfare considerations involved. This Bill alone will not stop the sale of low-welfare animal tourism products; it will stop the advertising, but it will still enable tourists to buy those elements independently at their destinations. In the United Kingdom, about a third of our holidays are bought as package holidays, where the purchaser buys from one provider; it might have lots of elements within it, but it is one provider. If that purchaser is on a TUI holiday, for instance, and goes to a TUI resort, and someone comes into that TUI resort to sell an animal attraction, there is a fair question to the holiday provider about how much control they have over their destination bookings and the question of whether to allow an independent trader in to sell a product. That is for holidays covered by package travel regulations; if someone is travelling independently and there is no regulatory oversight over that tourism product, that is a different matter—it is more complicated, although it still needs to be dealt with.
However, I encourage the hon. Member for Guildford to continue her campaign to look at what can be done when people are travelling under a UK-regulated package arrangement or linked arrangement, working with the holiday companies to ensure that those situations do not happen. We want all our animals around the world to enjoy not only freedom wherever possible, but a quality of life and a life well lived. Far too many animals involved with tourism do not enjoy a life well lived; in fact, they enjoy very little of their life, with much cruelty and much pain involved. This Bill is incredibly popular in Plymouth, as it is in the hon. Member’s constituency, and I encourage her to keep going in relation to this issue. I would like the Minister to look again at where the Animals Abroad Bill has got to, because it does seem to be lost—the Government have misplaced it. That Bill would not only take good steps to protect animals abroad, but would address important issues—on fur and the sale of foie gras, for instance—that still need to be addressed.
I encourage the hon. Member for Guildford to push on her with her Bill. In particular, I want to highlight her remarks about the use of influencers, because there is a question about the implementation of the powers in the Bill: namely, the extent to which digital content provided by holiday companies that, for instance, shows an elephant ride would be part of advertising, as it creates the impression in the purchaser’s mind that that is something that they can do in that destination, even if that content is not explicitly part of a product. There are elements that I would like the Government to look at, and I know they can work with industry to deliver those elements, because there is a real will in the UK tourism industry, as well as among holidaymakers, to ensure that holidays are ethical, decent and environmentally sustainable, and do not put any animals at risk.
Scott Benton (Blackpool South) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for bringing this Bill before the House. Animal welfare, whether at home or abroad, is an important issue to my constituents, and I often receive emails supporting greater protection for animals. I am proud of how far we have come in this country, and I commend the current Government for the work they have done to stop the needless suffering of animals. Since 2010, it is quite a record: a ban on the use of conventional battery cages for laying hens; mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses across England; a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses; the strongest ivory ban in the world; mandatory microchipping of dogs; and the modernisation of the licensing system for dog breeding and pet sales.
In 2021 we met our manifesto commitment when the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act came into force, raising the maximum sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years. Its sister Act, the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which is passing through its stages in this House, will also introduce some of the world’s strongest protections for pets, livestock and kept wild animals. Those include a ban on keeping primates as pets and on exporting live animals for slaughter and fattening. That Bill also addresses puppy smuggling by reducing the number of pets that can travel under pet travel rules, and I look forward to supporting it as it continues its parliamentary journey.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for giving way, and I am glad that he is supporting the Bill. He has outlined some good measures, but does he share my frustration that it has taken an awfully long time to get them through? They are usually pretty simple Bills for which there is cross-party agreement; the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019 took forever to get through the House—although that was probably before the hon. Member’s time. Does he share my frustration, and hope that we can get more measures like this one through the House more quickly in future?
Scott Benton
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. She certainly shares my passion for improving animal welfare, and I am sure that the Government business managers have heard her plea for Government time to take forward the additional measures she alludes to.
Clearly, this is an area of policy in which the UK has progressed rapidly and has quickly become a world leader, reflecting the deep respect for animals that the people of this country have.
As recently as the 1980s, exotic animals were used in circus performances in my constituency, which would be unthinkable today.
The Bill rightly recognises the unintentional and often unforeseen suffering that tourist activities can inflict on animals. That is particularly true when animals are taken from their natural habitats and trained, often cruelly, to act as part of a show or to be docile when being petted or fed. I am sure that many tourists who visit such shows are unaware of the impact on the animals’ health and of the conditions in which the animals are usually kept.
In conclusion, while I am broadly opposed ideologically to restrictions on companies to advertise, I hope the Bill will mean companies with the leverage to encourage higher standards in regulations in attractions abroad will use that leverage. Rather than stopping people seeing exotic and interesting animals in other places, I hope the Bill will allow them to do so in a way that protects those animals from harm and exploitation.
Sir Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)
This is a potentially useful Bill, but my concern is that it does not specify exactly what is going to be done. In introducing the Bill, my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) referred repeatedly to the plight of Asian elephants. When the Government introduced their action plan for animal welfare in May 2021, they said:
“We will legislate to ban the advertising and offering for sale here of specific, unacceptable practices abroad.”
With the exception of the reference to Asian elephants, we do not know what those “specific, unacceptable practices abroad” are, the advertising of which will be banned under the Bill. There should be a lot more specificity on the face of the Bill.
At the moment, the Bill could cover any matter that is already illegal under UK legislation or legislation in the devolved Administrations. For example, on the basis of its current wording, it could outlaw the advertising or promotion of hunting wild animals abroad, essentially trying to give extraterritorial application to our hunting legislation. If that is the intention of the Bill, then that should be spelled out openly, instead of being hidden away in the Bill’s regulation-making powers.
My main point concerns an omission. The Bill is based on the Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare—who could be against that? However, there remains a gap in that programme: the prevalence of the use of non-stun slaughter for animals in this country. I declare an interest as my daughter is a vet. The British Veterinary Association and the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, of which I think you are a patron, Mr Deputy Speaker, are at the forefront of trying to ensure that the non-stun method of slaughtering livestock is removed, or certainly mitigated, so that it is done only when there is strict evidence that it is necessary for religious purposes.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)
Order. Whatever private sympathies I may have with what the hon. Gentleman says, he has been in the House almost as long as I have, which is long enough to know that he has to talk about what is in the Bill and not what is not in it. He is stretching a point, if I may say so.
Sir Christopher Chope
Mr Deputy Speaker, we are both looking forward to celebrating, in June, the 40th anniversary of our first being elected to this House. Unlike me, you have been here continuously since then. Obviously, those missing years have impacted on my failure to follow the procedures today.
On Second Reading, one is entitled to look at things that are not included in the Bill. What I seek to find out from my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford is how this Bill will apply to what we know is already going on within our own country, where the non-stunned slaughter of animals can take place. It does not take place in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland, but it does take place in England. Could this Bill create a situation where we would be able to outlaw the advertising of hunting trips abroad but we would not be able to take action if in Northern Ireland or Wales an attempt was made to ensure that the same rules for the slaughter of animals through not being stunned in advance were applied?
There is a potentially a big gap in this Bill and I hope that for that reason when it gets into Committee we will have a chance to look at these issues in more detail. I hope we will be able to find out a bit more about why the Government have said that they were going to act in relation to the non-stunned animals being slaughtered, and the fact that a large proportion of all halal meat is actually already pre-stunned but a lot of the non-stunned meat is going to places that are not part of the religious community. I look forward to being able to discuss those issues in Committee or on Report if this Bill gets its Second Reading, as I hope it does.
Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)
Like other Members, let me start by commending the hon. Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for having so successfully navigated this important legislation to the Chamber today. I am pleased to support any and all measures to protect animals from abuse, and am thankful to her for giving us that opportunity today and for the comprehensive way in which she has made the case already.
Wild animal selfies, swimming with dolphins and riding elephants all feed into the collective human desire to experience new things and be close to animals. However, the wildlife tourism industry is responsible for the exploitation of hundreds of thousands of animals each year. Dolphins are forced to live in incredibly small tanks, as the hon. Lady outlined. Big cats can be drugged and declawed, and elephants are beaten and brutalised. Of course, it is easy to think of this as a problem far removed from the UK—something that is happening in another part of the world and a problem that is not ours to solve—but by advertising, promoting and selling these experiences, usually to unknowing consumers, UK-based travel companies are complicit in the cruelty.
There are many documented examples of the cruelty endured by animals used in the tourist trade. One of the most shocking instances came in 2016, when it was reported that police found 40 dead tiger cubs in a freezer during a raid at Thailand’s Tiger temple. Irresponsible breeding and poor conditions meant that the tigers had a much lower chance of living long, healthy lives than their wild counterparts. Each day at the Tiger temple, hundreds of tourists paid in excess of £40 to enter the park and pose with a tiger cub. In a country where the average wage is about £12 per day, we can see how animal tourism is big business. I am thankful that this attraction is no longer open to the public, but it is concerning that there are still about 2,000 captive tigers in Thailand, and that so- called “experiences” continue to be advertised and sold here in the UK That is just one country and one example, so I hope that this Bill will very much start to eradicate such practices.
Highly endangered baby and adult Asian elephants are beaten, stabbed and brutalised systematically across south-east Asia to “break the spirits” for easy use in tourism, yet these experiences are promoted by more than 1,250 UK based travel companies. Asian elephant numbers have collapsed and the species is nearing extinction, but appealing advertisements, often from well-known and influential companies, hide the cruelty from tourists who do not realise the enormous suffering endured by the animals involved. I know that the British public feel as strongly as we do. The fact that more than 1 million people signed a petition to urge the Government to protect the Asian elephant from the often daily cruelty they face at the hands of the tourist trade shows that there is most definitely an appetite for the measures before us.
Wildlife tourism is a diverse industry and it is important to note that there are some responsible operators and ethical activities available. I sincerely hope that today ushers in a new era of kinder, more responsible wildlife tourism where conservation underpins any such activities.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) who spoke so passionately with his experience of years working in the tourism sector. He raised some good points about further measures that could be considered where holiday providers might be facilitating experiences once holidaymakers are in-country. That is a very important point, which, I am sure, the Minister will be taking further with her colleagues in Government.
We welcome the fact that the Bill makes it clear what constitutes the advertising and sale of low-welfare animal activities and creates offences to that effect with a corresponding enforcement regime. As a nation of animal lovers, it is only right that Britain should lead the way on this, so, once again, I congratulate the hon. Member for Guildford and wish her all the very best of luck with the remainder of the passage of this Bill.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Trudy Harrison)
I, like other right hon. and hon. Members in this House, wish to pay tribute to, and thank immensely, my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for all her hard work on this Bill. I also thank my officials across the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for supporting her. Perhaps I can give her some comfort: I introduced, as a private member’s Bill, the Wild Animals in Circuses Bill. In 2019, with the support of Government, that Bill received its Royal Assent. These private Members’ Bills and sitting Fridays really make a tremendous difference.
My hon. Friend set out, somewhat graphically, exactly why we in DEFRA are supporting this important Bill. If anyone is in any doubt about this, then they should review the work of Save the Asian Elephants. I understand why people, especially parents, would want their children to have some experience of a wild animal—I myself am a mum to four girls. However, the clue is in the description: it is important that the experience is about observing, not forcing the changed behaviour of a wild animal to enable our up-close and wholly unnatural experience.
The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) talked about dolphins. Although we are looking, with this Bill, to develop primary legislation, secondary legislation will give us the opportunity to be specific about the species, and I will go into further detail on that later in my speech. My hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Scott Benton) made reference to the Wild Animals in Circuses Act 2019. I will take up his invitation to visit the zoo that does so much good work in Blackpool, and thank him for supporting the Bill.
We see the Bill as an important contribution to our ambitious animal welfare reforms that we have been making since this Government came to power. I manage 40 workstreams on our animal welfare action plan. All are making considerable progress, but there is no provision within the law to regulate the advertising and sale of animal activities abroad. That means that unacceptably low welfare activities can currently be advertised to tourists by domestic travel agents.
The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport and I share a common history, because I, too, worked as a travel agent. I know that it is difficult to understand whether an activity, which seems incredibly desirable, offering as it does a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, is high or low animal welfare.
The Bill will ensure clarity. Animals used in the tourist trade are often subjected to brutal and cruel treatment to ensure their compliance. Our concerns relate not just to the activities themselves, but to the severe training methods that are used to train and sometimes force the animals to behave in the desired way. Any change we can make here in the United Kingdom to raise animal welfare standards across the globe is a positive.
In response to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford about influencers, with the knowledge that we now have about animal welfare, the unacceptable treatment of animals for human entertainment cannot be condoned and such influencers absolutely depend on their followers. I am sure that the work that has been done to date, and the fact that we are gathered in the Chamber to speak about the need for wild animals to have high animal welfare, will send a strong message.
The Government take the welfare of all animals seriously and are committed to raising standards of animal welfare both at home and abroad. Introducing domestic advertising bans sends a strong signal from the Government that the only acceptable tourist attractions are ones where the animals do not suffer and that contributes to the UK’s position as a world leader on animal welfare. To date, the Government have carried out ambitious reforms that we committed to in the 2021 action plan for animal welfare. They include the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act 2022 and the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022. We are also pleased to support the private Members’ Bills on shark fins and trophy hunting.
More specifically on low-welfare animal activities, the Government’s action plan for animal welfare stated:
“In line with setting a global example on animal welfare…We will legislate to ban the advertising and offering for sale here of specific, unacceptable practices abroad.”
Alongside Government support for the Bill, there is widespread public support for such measures. World Animal Protection and Oxford University have estimated that up to 550,000 wild animals are exploited in the tourism industry across the globe.
Luke Pollard
The Minister is making a good speech about the importance of the Bill. May I just take her back to the advertising of low-welfare animal products abroad? When the Bill goes to Committee, will she and her officials work with the hon. Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) to see whether the provision of a digital click through would be captured by the advertising restriction, or, as in some cases in travel law, would it sit outside that? We do not want someone buying a holiday online to have adverts or links that can be clicked to take them to a site outside the UK, where they could buy such activities in the same purchasing period as buying their holiday. Will she ensure that that can be captured, because it could be a workaround that the companies that wish to continue selling the products exploit?
Trudy Harrison
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I will take the Bill through its legislative stages. I reassure him that I understand that that would be beneficial and that I will meet him and look into that with my officials before we go to Committee.
It is clear that the British public do not accept low animal welfare standards. The recent poll conducted by World Animal Protection revealed that 81% of UK respondents agreed that countries should stop the commercial exploitation of wild animals. In the same poll, 85% of respondents believed that wild animals had the right to a wild life.
Sir Christopher Chope
Does the Minister think that the provisions in the Bill could cover, for example, people who go whale watching in South Africa?
Trudy Harrison
To give a very brief answer to a very brief question, my first instinct is, absolutely not because people watch whales in their natural environment behaving in a natural way. The problem comes when we force wild animals to behave unnaturally in captive environments for our benefit up close and personal. As far as I understand it, that is not what my hon. Friend was referring to.
There is no specific reference to Asian elephants in the Bill, but we anticipate they will be covered under the Bill. Alongside the general support for the measures in the Bill, there is particularly strong support for Government intervention in relation to low-welfare activities involving Asian elephants. Asian elephants often undergo brutal training to break them in and make it safe for them to be in the vicinity of tourists. Methods include being chained up for long periods without access to food or water and being beaten with bullhooks to gain compliance. Elephants are often forced into unnatural activities, such as playing football, painting and tourist rides. As Members will have heard last Tuesday in the Adjournment debate secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith), Asian elephant rides, performances and experiences are often a popular choice with tourists abroad.
In closing, I thank everyone on all sides of the House for their contributions, in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford. She has not just led on the Bill but has had a very busy morning contributing to every single debate, representing her constituents extremely well indeed.
Angela Richardson
With the leave of the House, I would like to thank everybody who has been in the Chamber today and participated on Second Reading. There have been important contributions and clarifications sought. The hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) brought to bear his industry experience, which would be very useful in Committee, especially on the important issue of click-through. We need to ensure we capture everything and that there are no loopholes to be exploited.
I was grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Scott Benton), who went through the huge amount of legislation the Government have introduced. This Bill is about animal welfare abroad, but it is important to recognise what the Government are doing on animal welfare domestically. My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) raised some important points. The point of having these debates is to ask questions and seek clarification, so we need to talk about the issues he raised. I take some comfort from the Minister’s words that the Bill will mean specific regulations on specific species and will not capture a whole load of activities, including those my hon. Friend mentioned, but it is good that he is thinking widely about the implications of the Bill for animal species around the world and for some activities that take place, including whale watching.
Once again, I thank DEFRA officials for all the work they have done. I know the Bill is so popular that places in Committee will go very quickly. I suggest that hon. and right hon. Members who want to get involved should get in touch with me.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill accordingly read a Second time; to stand committed to a Public Bill Committee (Standing Order No. 63).
Animal (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Wednesday 8th March 2023
(1 year, 9 months ago)
Public Bill CommitteesRead Full debate Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Chair
I have a few preliminary reminders for the Committee. Please switch electronic devices to silent. No food or drink is permitted during sittings of the Committee, except the water provided. Hansard colleagues would be grateful if Members emailed their speaking notes to hansardnotes@parliament.uk. My selection and grouping list for today’s meeting is available online and in the room. No amendments have been tabled.
Clause 1
Prohibition on sale of low-welfare animal activities
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
The Chair
With this it will be convenient to consider the following:
Clauses 2 to 7 stand part.
That the schedule be the schedule to the Bill.
Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I am grateful to you, and to everyone who has joined the Committee to consider this important Bill once again.
I thank officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who have supported me throughout this process, and the Ministers at DEFRA, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Trudy Harrison), and my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane, who is answering today, for speaking up for the Bill along its journey so far.
I welcome the Government’s support for this legislation. Currently, there is no statutory provision in England or Northern Ireland to regulate the advertising or sale of animal activities abroad. This Government are well intentioned on the subject of animal welfare, and I know that this legislation has been a long time coming. The Government’s ambitious “Action Plan for Animal Welfare” states:
“we also want to make sure that businesses do not benefit from selling attractions, activities or experiences to tourists involving the unacceptable treatment of animals”,
and the Bill will deliver just that.
I will not repeat everything I said in the Chamber on Second Reading a few weeks ago, but it is important to break down the clauses and their effect. Clauses 1 and 2 establish the framework of offences that would involve the sale and advertising of animal experiences abroad that are considered to be low welfare. One section of particular note is subsection (3) of clause 1, which sets out the test for assessing whether an activity would be considered low welfare under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in England, and the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 in Northern Ireland.
Clause 3 is about penalties, prosecution and liabilities under the legislation. The clause also disapplies section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and article 19 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. That will ensure that the more complex cases that arise as a result of this legislation can be dealt with in a longer period than six months, which is the regular limit for a summary offence.
Clause 4 establishes the authority of the relevant departments in England and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland to investigate any allegations resulting from the offences created under the legislation. Clause 5 outlines the procedures for making regulations under the new legislation, both in this Parliament and in the devolved Administration in Northern Ireland. Clause 6 defines the terms commonly used throughout the Bill, including “activity regulations”, “animal”, “appropriate national authority”, “appropriate national legislation”, “offering” and “vertebrate”.
Finally, clause 7 details the territorial extent of the Bill—it applies to England and Northern Ireland—the commencement of the Act, which is due to take effect two months following Royal Assent from His Majesty the King, and the short title of the Act.
Animals cannot speak up for themselves, but we can speak for them. Charities including Save The Asian Elephants and World Animal Protection have highlighted the plight of many animals, including elephants and dolphins, which suffer in appalling conditions behind the scenes before being paraded around for visiting tourists. World Animal Protection estimates that up to 550,000 wild animals are suffering in poor conditions for the entertainment of tourists worldwide.
While we cannot outlaw those practices overseas, the Bill goes a long way to ensuring that we do our bit. Once enacted, it will prohibit the advertisement in England and Northern Ireland of tourist activities abroad that infringe on animal welfare standards. By reducing the visibility and prevalence of advertisements for such activities on high streets across England and Northern Ireland, the Bill will lead to more welfare-conscious offers being made to tourists who wish to go abroad.
Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)
I thank my hon. Friend for promoting this incredibly important Bill. Do those advertisements include those for swimming with dolphins?
Angela Richardson
It does. I will come on to talk about dolphins and other animals later in my speech.
A briefing note circulated by a number of animal welfare charities to members of the Committee highlighted 12 recurring themes in the keeping of animals in low-welfare attractions and facilities. It is prudent to bring them to the attention of the Committee to show the difference that the legislation could make. Animals are taken from the wild, which harms the animal, local wildlife populations and people. Mothers are killed, injured or harmed simply so that their infants can be captured. Breeding mothers are kept and forced to raise their young in low-welfare facilities, as opposed to in the wild. Infants are taken from their mothers far too young. There is a high mortality rate among animals that are in transit or traded.
Animals are kept in situations that are unnatural to them, including close captivity, which can be particularly harmful to long-lived species and to those accustomed to a large range in the wild. Animals are forced to perform unnatural behaviours. The use, or threat, of fear, pain, or drugs is used to control or train animals, and methods of domination are used to traumatise or subdue them. Animals are closely handled by several untrained people, and are often given no option to retreat. There is a risk of zoonotic disease transmission from animals, particularly when they are used as photo props and handled by large volumes of people. Finally, animals who are no longer used for exhibition are kept in cruel surroundings or killed before they have reach the natural end of their life. Those 12 themes paint a picture of a experiences that none of us would wish on an animal in the wild. This legislation will result in fewer animals being treated in that way by bringing about less consumer demand for experiences based on low-welfare treatment.
Let me mention some of the experiences that feature poor conditions for animals, as well as the species that the Bill could have an impact on. I will start with the Asian elephant, used as a tourist attraction for rides, particularly in south-east Asia. Animals from that precious species are brutally taken in the wild at a young age—sometimes their mothers are killed right in front of them—and then subjected to a breaking of their spirits by isolation, starvation, stabbings and beatings to make them submissive when engaged in activities with tourists.
Another experience used in tourist activities around the world is the use of animals as photo props. That can include primates, reptiles and avian life being used for selfies; and big cats, such as tigers, lions and leopards, being used in public interaction.
Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble) (Con)
I would like to add to that list. I have worked as a field guide, a safari ranger, in Africa, and cheetahs are especially vulnerable. I have seen cheetahs in particularly shocking conditions—tigers, cheetahs and others. Does my hon. Friend agree that they need protecting as much as all the other big cats?
Angela Richardson
I thank my hon. Friend for her timely intervention. It is right to add to the list. In fact, if I went through a list, it would be a lot longer than I have time for this morning—I do not want to keep everyone in a cold Committee Room longer than is necessary. Yes, cheetahs are affected as well, as is marine life, including dolphins, which are used for feeding and swimming experiences, as was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley.
Many of us and our constituents will have seen such experiences advertised in the shop windows of travel agents or online, but were not aware of the animal welfare consequences. When we think about low-welfare activities abroad, we first think of the conditions of the animals, but it is important to note that there is a human impact, too. For example, research from Save the Asian Elephants has shown that at least 700 tourists and others have been killed, and more than 900 have suffered sustained injuries, such as crushed chests and internal organs, broken limbs and ribs, and serious head injuries. More widely, experiences involving big cats, marine life and reptiles carry a risk to public safety through the threat of injury and of the zoonotic transmission of disease. The Bill will improve the safety of both the animals involved in tourism abroad and the tourists themselves.
I appreciate that some will be disappointed that the legislation will not cover the whole of the United Kingdom, notably Scotland and Wales. I hope that our colleagues in the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments will be able to introduce legislation in their devolved assemblies that provides a similar framework. Today, we must focus on the first step on that journey, and put the Bill through to the next stage.
Everyone on the Committee and in the House represents a constituency where animal welfare is valued and cherished, as it is in my constituency of Guildford. The Bill will be roundly supported by our constituents. I was pleased to see, both on Second Reading and in an Adjournment debate on the subject in the House in January, that the legislation had cross-party support. There were contributions from Conservative, Labour and SNP Members. I hope that we continue in that cross-party spirit. I look forward to hearing from the Minister and Members on their further views on the Bill.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rebecca Pow)
It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mr Stringer, for consideration of this incredibly positive Bill. It shows us working at our best. My hon. Friend the Member for Guildford has worked hard on it, and gathered cross-party support for it. I thank her for all that work, and the rest of the Committee and others for their useful input, including DEFRA. Responsibility has swapped between Ministers, but that has meant that we are fully aware of what is going on, and have got behind the Bill.
As we have heard, the Bill enables the introduction of a domestic ban on the advertising and offering for sale of low-welfare animal activities abroad. It provides a framework under which secondary legislation can apply bans to the advertising and offering for sale of specific activities. That is key; it means that different categories of creatures may be looked at individually when serious evidence is brought forward, so that we get the regulations right for each category. There will be parliamentary scrutiny of those regulations, which is welcome.
I will run through each clause of the Bill, although my hon. Friend just did that, just so that this is all on the record from the Minister. Clause 1 makes it an offence to sell any right to observe or participate in a low-welfare animal activity that takes place outside the United Kingdom and that is specified in activity regulations that apply in a relevant part of the United Kingdom.
Under the Bill, an animal activity is considered to be low welfare if the conditions in which the animal is kept or the treatment to which it is subject would be an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in England, or under the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 in Northern Ireland. The power to make activity regulations is conferred on the appropriate national authority, which in England is the Secretary of State and in Northern Ireland is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, or the Secretary of State acting with the consent of the Department.
The decision about which animals and activities the ban will apply to will be based on evidence, as I mentioned. A ban will be implemented only when compelling evidence of the need for it is submitted. As I say, all activity regulations will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny via the affirmative procedure.
Clause 2 sets out which advertisements would be prohibited under the Bill. If an advert has the purpose or effect of promoting the observation of or participation in a specified low-welfare animal activity that is to take place outside the United Kingdom, it will be prohibited. It also establishes the circumstances in which a person does and does not commit an offence by advertising a low-welfare activity.
An offence is committed if a person publishes a prohibited advert in a relevant part of the United Kingdom, or if they cause such an advert to be published. The key is the way in through such adverts. Similarly, a person commits an offence if they print or distribute a prohibited advert that has been published in a relevant part of the United Kingdom, or causes such an advertisement to be printed or distributed.
A person does not commit an offence if the advert is in a publication—excluding in-flight magazines, which could come into this country—that is printed outside a relevant part of the United Kingdom and whose principal market is not a relevant part of the United Kingdom. If an advert is distributed electronically and the person did not carry on business in a relevant part of the United Kingdom at the time of distribution, then that person does not commit an offence. Likewise, if a person sells a publication to a member of the public that contains a prohibited advert, then that person does not commit an offence.
The bans are important because, as my hon. Friend highlighted, no specific provisions in law regulate the domestic advertising and sale of animal activities that take place overseas. Domestic travel agents can currently advertise activities involving animals abroad that would not be permitted if they took place in England or Northern Ireland. The Association of British Travel Agents has guidelines, but they are not law and cannot be enforced. That is why the Bill will be so useful.
Clause 3 sets out information about the penalties, prosecution and liability for the offence. A person or business in England and Wales who commits an offence under the Bill is liable for a fine, which could be unlimited; in Northern Ireland, they are liable for a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, which equates to £5,000.
Section 127 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 and article 19 of the Magistrates’ Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 do not apply in relation to offences under this Act. That means that the usual six-month time limit within which a prosecution for a summary offence must be brought will not apply. That will ensure that prosecutions are not time-barred in complex cases where data and evidence have to be gathered. That is clearly a helpful provision.
Clause 4 sets out the enforcement powers of local weights and measures authorities in England and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland. Clause 5 sets out what further provisions may be included in activity regulations made under clause 1. Activity regulations must be made by statutory instrument and, as mentioned earlier, will be subject to the affirmative procedure.
Clause 6 sets out the definition of terms commonly used throughout the Bill, including that of low-welfare activity. Clause 7 sets out the extent, commencement and short title of the Bill.
The Bill extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the provisions of the Bill apply to England and Northern Ireland only. This is a devolved matter, and it will be up to the relevant devolved Administrations to consider whether they would like to bring in a similar framework. We welcome Northern Ireland’s joining in with the Bill. Its provisions will come into force two months after the day on which it is passed.
This Bill is one of many that have come through our Parliament in a few years that demonstrate that we are a caring nation and really mean business on animal welfare. The animal welfare action plan sets out our criteria. We have brought forward an enormous raft of legislation; that is worth noting, as there has been such a focus on this agenda recently. There is the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022; the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022; the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021; the Animal Welfare (Services Animals) Act 2019; the private Member’s Shark Fins Bill passing through Parliament, which I have been part of; and the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, also going through Parliament. I know colleagues have spoken in debates on it. The Bill before us is another example of just how much we are doing on this agenda, and how necessary the work is.
My hon. Friend the Member for Guildford mentioned the real difference that the Bill will make. It probably comes too late for some of the thousands of poor creatures referred to. There have been ghastly examples given, including of young creatures being taken away from their mums and their mums being killed. Big cats were referenced in one intervention, and dolphins were mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley.
Angela Richardson
An enormous thank you to everybody who offered to serve on the Bill Committee. There are quite a lot of presentation Bills and private Members’ Bills going through Parliament, and we are all in great demand to sit on their Committees. I am grateful to everyone from across the parties who agreed to be on this Committee.
My thanks again to DEFRA officials, who have worked incredibly hard; to Ministers; to Clerks in the Public Bill Office, who give enormous support; and to Adam Heilbron from my office, who has done a huge amount of work in supporting me.
I am delighted to see the Bill progress, and that we have managed to get through so many stages. There are a few more hurdles to go: there will be Report and Third Reading shortly, I hope, and then the Bill is off to the Lords. Hopefully, it will then finally go to His Majesty for his Royal Assent. My enormous thanks to you, Mr Stringer, for chairing the Committee.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 1 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 2 to 7 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule agreed to.
Bill to be reported, without amendment.
Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Friday 17th March 2023
(1 year, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Angela Richardson (Guildford) (Con)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
The United Kingdom has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and I am proud of the record set by this country and this Government. In recent years, we have taken great strides in improving standards further with important legislation, including the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022 and, indeed, the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, which I was pleased to see pass its Third Reading earlier. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) on his Bill passing to the other House.
I wish once again to bring the attention of the House to the matter of low welfare animal activities in overseas tourism. Currently, there is no statutory provision in England or Northern Ireland to regulate the advertising or sale of animal activities abroad. This Bill will change that. It has been left to individual travel companies to decide whether to promote activities that could include low welfare conditions, such as elephant rides.
ABTA—the largest travel association in the UK, representing almost 4,000 brands, from small independent travel agencies to the household names—has set out guidelines on animal welfare. The guidelines outline three areas—unacceptable practices involving captive animals, unacceptable practices involving animals in cultural events and activities, and unacceptable practices involving free-roaming wild animals—and it encourages travel agents to work with their suppliers to foster good welfare practices. ABTA’s 2022 “Holiday Habits” report highlighted that 70% of travellers cite their holiday’s impact on animal welfare as a concern.
Individual companies have put in place their own policies on the advertising of animal experiences abroad, and I will note a couple of examples. Tripadvisor now prohibits selling tickets to, or generating booking revenue from, specific experiences, including experiences involving physical interaction with animals in captivity and experiences in which wild or endangered animals are forced to perform unnatural tricks or behaviours in front of the public, or are treated as a live circus or entertainment act, to name a few. Expedia Group has also set out its own criteria for animal experiences.
Although I welcome the intention of the ABTA guidelines and the action taken by individual companies, it is important to note that the guidelines remain entirely optional and can be selectively applied. The Bill provides a more uniform, mandatory approach. The scale of animal cruelty in wildlife tourism cannot be overestimated. World Animal Protection’s 2016 report, “Checking out of cruelty,” was the first piece of global research on this issue. The report found that three in four wildlife tourist attractions involve some form of animal abuse or conservation concerns, and that up to 550,000 animals are suffering in these venues. It estimated that approximately 110 million people visit cruel wildlife tourist attractions every year, and that the vast majority of them will be unaware of the poor conditions or abuse to which animals may be subjected once they have returned to their accommodation. It is clear that we need to act on this issue.
The Government’s action plan for animal welfare, published in 2021, recognised that fact and set out their intention to make sure businesses do not benefit from selling attractions, activities or experiences involving the unacceptable treatment of animals. The Bill was introduced in June 2022, after which we had a very patient wait for Second Reading. The Bill has continued its journey through the House over the past two months, and I welcome its swift, unamended progress.
Back in January 2023, my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley led an Adjournment debate on the welfare of animals in tourist activities, and it was encouraging to hear supportive contributions from both sides of the House and, indeed, from the Government. The Bill had its Second Reading shortly afterwards, with a similar reception.
Outside the House, the charity Save the Asian Elephants, led by CEO Duncan McNair, handed a petition to No. 10 Downing Street, signed by 1.2 million people, calling for a ban on UK firms marketing holiday venues that specifically exploit elephants. I am delighted to see Mr McNair in the Gallery, supporting this Bill.
The Bill passed Committee just last week. I am extremely grateful to the Members who took time out of their Wednesday morning to support its passage. I take this opportunity to thank my hon. Friends the Members for Clwyd South (Simon Baynes), for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), for South Ribble (Katherine Fletcher), for Henley (John Howell), for Loughborough (Jane Hunt), for Northampton South (Andrew Lewer) and for West Dorset (Chris Loder), as well as the hon. Members for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) and for Halton (Derek Twigg), for their support.
Although the Bill does not represent a ban in and of itself, it creates the framework that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, or the Secretary of State acting with their consent, can use to ban the advertisement of tourist activities abroad that infringe upon animal welfare standards. Through secondary legislation, the relevant Departments will be able to introduce species-specific bans, based on collated evidence from industry stakeholders and others, that can be scrutinised in this House.
Although we cannot enforce our laws in other sovereign states, there are actions we can take domestically to protect animals, including by passing this Bill. We can work domestically to steer the market away from promoting these experiences and towards a travel industry that is more conscious of animal welfare, supporting both tourists and suppliers to make more informed decisions about what to buy and offer respectively. By reducing the visibility of low-welfare experiences on our high streets and in brochures, we can encourage different choices for tourists.
It is important to bring the attention of the House to some of the conditions and treatments that animals are subjected to across the industry. A briefing note provided to me in Committee by Save the Asian Elephant and other animal welfare charities put forward 12 recurring themes in the keeping of animals in low-welfare facilities for use in tourism. Animals are taken from the wild, which harms the animal, local wildlife populations and people. Mothers are killed, injured or harmed simply so that their infants can be captured. Breeding mothers are kept and forced to raise their young in low-welfare facilities, as opposed to in the wild. Infants are taken from their mothers far too young. There is a high mortality rate among animals that are in transit or traded. Animals are kept in situations that are unnatural to them, including close captivity, which can be particularly harmful to long-lived species and to those accustomed to a large range in the wild.
Animals are forced to perform unnatural behaviours. The threat of fear, pain or drugs is used to control or train animals. Methods of domination are used to traumatise or subdue them. Animals are closely handled by several untrained people and often they are given no option to retreat. There is a risk of zoonotic disease transmission from animals, particularly when they are used as photo props and handled by large volumes of people. Finally, animals that are no longer used for exhibition are kept in cruel surroundings, or killed before they have reached the natural end of their life. The 12 themes paint a picture of experiences that none of us would wish on an animal in the wild. The legislation will result in fewer animals being treated in that way, by bringing about less consumer demand for experiences based on low-welfare treatment.
Under our own legislation, the conditions that these animals are kept in would be considered unacceptable. Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 outlines the five needs of an animal:
“(a) its need for a suitable environment,
(b) its need for a suitable diet,
(c) its need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns,
(d) any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals, and
(e) its need to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.”
The activities abroad would fail the test we set ourselves at home, and it is imperative that we do what we can to remedy those animal welfare abuses.
We have sadly seen too many tourists injured or killed by animals that have been kept in low-welfare conditions, including Andrea Taylor, who was killed by an elephant during a ride experience in 2000. Andrea is just one of at least 700 people who have been killed by elephants alone, with a further 900 experiencing sustained catastrophic injuries. Treating animals humanely and properly benefits not only the species themselves but the tourists who wish to see them. The Bill is a first step in a long journey.
There are, of course, ways in which the legislation could go further. As the world of online influencers and click-throughs develop, we should look at the ways we can enhance the legislation. But today we must get the framework in place. I know there will be those who are disappointed that the legislation we send to the other House today will not cover Scotland and Wales. The intentions of the Bill are widely supported, and I hope that Scotland and Wales will join us in legislating against such advertisements soon. I welcome the remarks by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands in the Scottish Government last week, saying she is open to similar proposals being introduced in Holyrood.
To conclude, I take this final opportunity to thank the officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for their continued assistance throughout the process. I thank the Ministers, my hon. Friends the Member for Copeland (Trudy Harrison) and the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow), for their passionate support of the Bill, as well as every Member who has contributed to the Bill through its Commons journey. I also thank organisations such as Save the Asian Elephant and World Animal Protection for their continued support of the legislation and for providing their research, which has been invaluable. I welcome the cross-party support that the Bill, like other recent private Members’ Bills, has commanded. In that spirit, I hope colleagues across the House will support the Bill. I look forward to seeing its progress in the other place.
Jane Stevenson (Wolverhampton North East) (Con)
I am delighted to have the chance to speak in support of this important Bill on behalf of the constituents who write to me so regularly with animal welfare concerns, from squirrels and hedgehogs to polar bears and penguins. We are a nation of animal lovers, and although animal welfare may be a small part of what we do in this place, it is certainly important to a vast number of our constituents.
I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for getting her Bill this far. We cannot control what happens in other countries, but at least the Bill will go a short way towards ensuring that tourists from the United Kingdom are aware of what their experiences are funding. In my previous career, I was lucky to travel extensively, and I saw good and bad examples of this sort of tourism. In Zimbabwe 20 years ago, I was lucky enough to visit the Hwange game reserve, where there were some great conservation activities. I went on an elephant safari while I was in Zimbabwe, and the elephants seemed to be treated extremely well and left to roam wild, but it is important that we know that animals are not being abused.
I know that many colleagues want to speak in support of the Bill and we will soon run out of time in this Session, so I will conclude by backing up what my hon. Friend is doing and by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) for his crucial Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, which received its Third Reading this morning. Our party has a lot to be proud of, with all the animal welfare progress that we have made in this Parliament. I also thank the Minister, who I know is an absolute animal lover, like many of us on the Government Benches.
Aaron Bell (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Con)
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Jane Stevenson). Today, St Patrick’s Day, has been a very good day for animals around the world. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for this Bill, and to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith) for his success with the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill. I was not able to speak on that Bill earlier today, but I put on the record my support for it; I share the hope of the former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), that the House of Lords will not hold it up at all. I hope the same for this Bill.
The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world. Two centuries ago, this House passed the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822; last year, as my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford said, we passed the landmark Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022; and there have been a host of measures in between. We are indeed a nation of animal lovers. I know that my constituents in Newcastle-under-Lyme feel strongly about these issues, and the same applies nationally: 72% of respondents to a YouGov poll last May said that they wanted the Government to
“pass more laws designed to improve animal welfare and protect animals from cruelty.”
The Bill, which has rightly received significant cross-party support, builds on the Government’s excellent track record on animal welfare. I pay tribute to the Minister and look forward to her response.
Let me address one issue—I was going to call it the elephant in the room, but that is a terrible, terrible joke. We cannot enforce our laws in other countries. I should make it clear that this Bill will not criminalise Brits abroad who might take an elephant ride, say, but later regret it and realise that perhaps it was exploitative. That is not what the Bill seeks to do; it seeks to prevent the advertisement of such things. The Bill of my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley takes a similar approach. I heard with respect the points that my hon. Friend the Member for North Herefordshire (Sir Bill Wiggin) made earlier about not trying to be cultural imperialists, but we are entitled to make a stand in this place, and we are entitled to say what we consider it acceptable to advertise and promote in this country.
With the import prohibition on hunting trophies, and with this Bill to ensure that we do not advertise low-welfare activities abroad, we are doing the right thing to stifle the demand that causes such grave animal suffering. The Government are right in their commitment to continue to raise the bar and take the rest of the world with us, just as we set out to do when the action plan for animal welfare was announced. I am very pleased to support both Bills today.
Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble) (Con)
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for her excellent championing of the Bill. Time is against us, so I will raise just two points.
First, I wish to emphasise the cruelty that the Bill seeks to prevent. As the House may know, I worked as a safari ranger—a field guide—in South Africa and Mozambique in 2008. On my time off, I visited a vineyard, only to find two cheetahs, probably drugged, in a cage, being offered to a drunken tourist to pat at 50 quid a pop. That is not their natural environment. I would not like to see that advertised in this country. Perhaps the Minister will say something about that when she responds to the debate, or when the Bill is in Committee—and I thank my hon. Friend again for allowing me to serve on the Committee. I hope we can use the Bill as an opportunity not only to criminalise advertisements that seek to exploit animals but to help educate the public about what animal distress looks like, which may enable them to make positive choices when they are abroad.
May I offer one small suggestion from my previous experience? If you see an elephant with liquid streaming down the side of its face, it will be in musth if it is a bull elephant, but if that is not the cause, it is an incredibly stressed elephant. I have seen pictures advertising elephant rides in which every single elephant has a stream of liquid running down its face because it is so frightened. I say to the Minister and to the British public: please pay attention, because if things do not look right, the animal is probably telling you that they are not.
Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)
Many Members want to contribute, so I will not speak at length.
I thoroughly welcome this Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson), and I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for the personal passion with which she deals with this issue. As has already been said, the British people are animal lovers: this is a country that has a Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals but only a National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which tells us everything we need to know.
An important point arose during our earlier debate on the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith). There are still advertisements out there showing what is effectively a price list for animal cruelty, which I find staggering in this day and age. Sadly the days when we could legislate for other countries are long gone, but, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell), we can make a stand. I think it important for us to send a signal that our British values where animals are concerned are core to our identity, and that we will not stand for this kind of cruelty.
Anna Firth (Southend West) (Con)
It is a great pleasure to be called to speak about this important Bill, and I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson).
This has been an incredible day for animal welfare, and it has been a privilege to debate two Bills that will help to improve the lives of animals. As a patron of the brilliant Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, a position also held by my much-loved predecessor Sir David Amess, I know of the struggles that animals have had to endure both here and abroad. I pay tribute to the founders of that organisation, Lorraine and Chris Platt—I see Lorraine in the Public Gallery—for the huge amount that they have done to safeguard and raise awareness of animal welfare, both in the UK and abroad. On Wednesday I was privileged to speak at an event connected with their campaign to ban the use of pig farrowing crates in this country, and I hope that that ban will happen very soon. It was also an honour to support, earlier today, the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith).
All of us in this place can be proud of the huge strides we have made towards improving the lives of animals in the United Kingdom, and since we have left the European Union we have been able to make even greater progress. The Bill is greatly needed. A quick Google search brings up numerous websites offering elephant rides, which, as we all know, are not a harmless activity. Only last week, the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand released a picture of Pai Lin, a 71-year-old female elephant whose spine has become disfigured after 25 years of working in the tourism industry. Being forced to carry up to six tourists at a time has caused irreversible physical damage to her spine. The Bill will stop companies being able to advertise trips like that, and will, I hope, prevent elephants like Pai Lin from enduring this appalling suffering.
Let me end by saying how proud I am of the animal rights record of successive Conservative Governments and how strongly I support the Bill, and by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford again on bringing it to us today.
Simon Baynes (Clwyd South) (Con)
I will be extremely brief. It is an honour to support this Bill, particularly after being able to support the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill, promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith), earlier this morning. It was a great pleasure to serve on the Bill Committee, with this whole process having been expertly steered through the House by my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson).
I wish to make three quick points. First, the RSPCA has strongly supported the Bill, saying:
“We believe it will advance the cause of animal welfare and could lead to preventing the suffering of millions of animals worldwide.”
Secondly, World Animal Protection supports a ban on the UK advertising, saying that up to 550,000 wild animals a year are suffering for tourists’ entertainment in wildlife attractions worldwide, so this is very important. My third and final point is that as a Welsh MP I hope the Welsh Senedd will follow suit. It is an honour to support this Bill, which will be of great benefit to animal welfare around the world. It has my wholehearted support.
Alex Sobel (Leeds North West) (Lab/Co-op)
Let me start by commending the hon. Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson) for bringing the Bill to this stage, and I hope we can get it a quick and successful conclusion and send it on its way. I am grateful to have this second opportunity to progress measures for international animal conservation today, after the earlier Bill from the hon. Member for Crawley (Henry Smith)—I hope this one will have the same success. It is a shame, though, that this legislation has to come via a private Member’s Bill. This measure, as well as the one on trophy hunting and many others, was due to be in the animals abroad legislation that was promised to us by the Government, which would have tackled so many different animal conservation issues. It is a shame that we are having to do things this way, through private Members’ Bills, rather than through a rounded approach with a single Government-backed Bill. However, we are where we are and we should persevere with the other issues when we have the opportunity.
Riding elephants, running with wild animals and swimming with dolphins all are part of the human spirit that seeks new thrills, but the wildlife tourism industry is responsible for the exploitation of hundreds of thousands of animals each year: dolphins are forced to live in cramped conditions; big cats are drugged and have their claws pulled off; and elephants are violently mistreated, as we have heard. This problem is an international one, but our citizens and companies are centrally involved with advertising, promoting and selling experiences, usually to unknowing consumers; UK travel companies are complicit in this cruelty, and there are so many examples of cruelty arising from this practice.
The hon. Lady spoke about the 12 themes, so I will not repeat them. However, reducing the effect and occurrence of those themes is surely reason enough to pass this Bill. I have not tabled any amendments, but there are some technical improvements that the Minister should consider so that we do not have loopholes in the Bill. It could include a provision to restrict the defence to those who sell these experiences in the ordinary course of a business or occupation of selling publications; it could extend the definition of “advertisement” to include any material, in any form, that promotes or encourages in any way the observation of, or participation in, a banned activity, and any material referred to in the advertisement or linked to it in any manner; it could give enforcement officers and the courts power to order the publication of correction notices and give power to the Secretary of State to make regulations specifying matters relating to correction notices; and, finally, it could provide a measure on consulting the RSPCA and such other animal welfare organisations as the appropriate national authority thinks fit before activity regulations are made. Although we are not considering those measures now, I hope that the Minister might consider them as we progress and implement this legislation.
The fact that more than 1 million people signed a petition to urge the Government to protect the Asian elephant from the unimaginable cruelty it faces at the hands of the tourist trade shows that there is most definitely an appetite for this Bill. I know that other Members will, like me, have been inundated by correspondence from constituents on this and other similar animal conservation issues, so we know the public are with us. I really want to thank Save The Asian Elephants and Duncan McNair, whom I see in the Gallery. He has provided so much support to me and to others, including the hon. Member for Guildford, as we have progressed this Bill.
Finally, let me say that animal tourism is a diverse industry, and it is important to note that there are many good operators and activities that benefit conservation on offer. I sincerely hope that today ushers in a new era for the industry, with this Bill and the one we have already passed today.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Trudy Harrison)
I know how important the Bill is to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, so I am delighted to see you in the Chair.
Today is a tremendous day for animals worldwide. We have been collegiate in this place; I very much appreciate the Opposition’s willingness to work with other Members and me on today’s Bills. We have been incredibly passionate about them. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford (Angela Richardson), who has put so much hard work and diligence into her Bill.
Let me put on record my thanks to the Members who have contributed to today’s debate: my hon. Friends the Members for Wolverhampton North East (Jane Stevenson), for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell), for South Ribble (Katherine Fletcher)—she offered her considerable experience—for Southend West (Anna Firth) and for Clwyd South (Simon Baynes). I was grateful to hear the considerations of the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Alex Sobel), and I will endeavour to look at them in more detail and work with the RSPCA, as he suggests.
Currently, the domestic advertising and sale of animal activities overseas is not subject to specific legislation in this country—that is exactly what the Bill will do. As my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford eloquently set out, there is little else to say. Domestic travel agents can advertise and sell any overseas animal activities, no matter the relevant animal welfare standards. We have heard first-hand accounts from Members of just how horrific the conditions can be. In low-welfare establishments, cruel training methods are often used to force animals into submission. That allows tourists to get up close and personal with the animals in the form of riding, bathing or taking selfies, to name just a few examples.
Let me emphasise the Government’s commitment to improving animal welfare standards across the globe. The introduction of domestic advertising and sales bans on low-welfare activities abroad would allow us to continue to lead by example on how animals should be treated in tourist attractions across the world. I hope that by passing the Bill we will emphasise that we should not exploit animals for human entertainment, and show exactly why the UK is a world leader in animal welfare.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford set out, in the 2021 action plan for animal welfare, the Government committed to a number of animal welfare reforms. Several Acts have been passed to address the commitments made in 2021, and more Bills are proceeding through Parliament. The legislation already been passed includes the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, the Animals (Penalty Notices) Act 2022 and the Glue Traps (Offences) Act 2022. Just this morning, thanks to the diligence of my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Henry Smith), his Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was passed. That is tremendous progress.
The framework of this Bill will enable secondary legislation to be introduced to ban the domestic advertising and sale of specific low-welfare activities abroad. Let me emphasise that any ban on the domestic advertising and sale of low-welfare activities would capture the specific species and activity, wherever in the world that took place. For example, a ban on low-welfare Asian elephant activities would relate to unacceptable practices involving Asian elephants as a species anywhere in the world—not solely elephants that live in Asia.
Given the short time available, I want to put on record my thanks to campaigners from Save The Asian Elephants, who are in the Gallery, as well many other organisations globally. I also thank my officials, who work so hard, particularly across the animal welfare spectrum, including on the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill this morning and this Bill. Their diligence and professionalism, going the extra mile day after day, is much appreciated by me, by the entire ministerial team at DEFRA and, I think, by Members across this House. Without that hard work, we would not be in this position today.
In conclusion, I thank everyone for their contributions to this debate, especially my hon. Friend the Member for Guildford. I reiterate this Government’s support for the Bill and wish it well as it progresses.
Angela Richardson
With the leave of the House, I would like to thank my hon. Friends the Members for Wolverhampton North East (Jane Stevenson), for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Aaron Bell), for South Ribble (Katherine Fletcher), for Heywood and Middleton (Chris Clarkson), for Southend West (Anna Firth) and for Clwyd South (Simon Baynes) for their excellent contributions. I also thank the shadow Minister for his helpful comments on how to improve the legislation and the Minister for her usual brilliant response. It is always important to thank the Public Bill Office for its helpful advice and instruction on progressing the Bill so far. Finally, I want to remark how appropriate it is to have you in the Chair, Mr Deputy Speaker, on such an important day for animal welfare.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Monday 20th March 2023
(1 year, 9 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Friday 14th July 2023
(1 year, 5 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lord Black of Brentwood
That the Bill be now read a second time.
Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)
My Lords, noble Lords will know of my long-standing interest in and commitment to animal welfare. I believe, like all colleagues here today I have no doubt, that the way we treat animals is a mark of our humanity. Traditionally, I have campaigned more often on issues relating to domestic animals, such as cats and dogs, as we did yesterday, but today I turn my attention to animals of a somewhat bigger variety, and certainly on a more global scale, by introducing this important Bill. It is a privilege to do so.
As this Bill relates to advertising, I declare an interest as a director of the Advertising Standards Board of Finance and note my other interests. I am grateful to all noble Lords who will take part in this important debate. I much look forward to it, especially to the contribution of my noble friend the Minister. My noble friend Lady Fookes had wanted to take part to support the Bill, but regrettably she is unable to be here today.
I am indebted to Angela Richardson MP, who piloted the Bill through the other place with passion, eloquence and skill. I hope its journey in this House will be just as smooth, reflecting its overwhelming public backing. The Bill has government and cross-party support, and it has incredibly strong public support. An Opinion Matters poll just a few months ago showed that 82% agreed that the Government should use their influence to bring an end to overseas activities which involve animal cruelty.
The Bill also has the powerful backing of many of the charities involved in this field of work, among them Save the Asian Elephants, the RSPCA, World Animal Protection and Four Paws UK. I am particularly indebted to Save the Asian Elephants for the comprehensive briefing it has provided to me and others, as indeed I am to our Library for its background document. I am also very grateful to officials at Defra, who have been generous in their time and expertise working on this Bill.
This Government have done a great deal in recent years to protect and enhance animal welfare, yet it is a never-ending battle. There is always more to be done, and this excellent Bill rises to the challenge, fulfilling the commitment in the 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare to ensure that
“businesses do not benefit from selling attractions, activities or experiences to tourists involving the unacceptable treatment of animals”.
The Government’s intention, which this Bill delivers on, is to steer tourists away from so-called attractions which rely on cruel and brutal practices to ensure the obedience of animals, towards visits to places where animals are cared for and treated properly, with dignity and humanity. This includes Asian elephants, about which I will say more in a moment, big cats such as tigers and lions, baby monkeys, dolphins and much other marine life. Many of these animals are subjected to unimaginable cruelty in the name of so-called entertainment.
The pattern, whatever the species, is often horribly the same. Taken from their own habitat, on land or sea, infants’ mothers are often killed to capture them. They are kept in incredibly harmful close captivity. They are forced through traumatising fear, pain or drugs into a state where they can be dominated and made to perform unnatural behaviours. They are often callously slaughtered when they are no longer needed for exhibition.
Take Asian elephants as an example of the sort of species that might be helped by this enabling legislation. These magnificent animals—now an endangered species, which is incredibly dangerous in view of their crucial role in boosting biodiversity, rejuvenating forests and helping combat climate change—are treated with indescribable viciousness to prepare them for tourist activities such as elephant rides and washing. They are snatched from the wild, with their protective mothers often butchered in front of them, subjected to the brutal “breaking of the spirits” through isolation and starvation, then stabbed and beaten with repulsive hooks and sticks before being restrained by tight wire ties that bite the flesh, prevent movement and cause sepsis—all actions that would clearly be punished with the utmost severity if committed in the UK. They are also things of which the tourists who go to see them are almost always unaware.
The treatment of dolphins is another appalling example of animal cruelty. Activities offered in many tourist venues include swimming with them, interacting with them by touching or feeding them, using them as props for souvenir photographs and selfies, which causes them immense distress, and so-called beaching, the horrible practice where they are trained to propel themselves out of the water on to a stage—a demeaning act that often ends in severe injury to the animal. To prepare them for all this, these highly intelligent creatures are subjected to coercive control, deprived of food to make them respond to training, and kept in confined, featureless tanks that are 200,000 times smaller than their natural home range.
Big cats, such as tigers and leopards, can be treated just as badly. Separated from their mothers just days after being born, cubs are hand-reared to become a tourist attraction. They are often declawed in the process and their teeth are removed. Their lives are often pitifully short, as most of them become too dangerous to handle at around six months old, so they are often sold or killed, with lions sometimes sent to hunting facilities to be shot by paying trophy hunters before the whole horrible cycle begins again with new cubs.
This is about not just animal welfare but human welfare too, as animals treated with such abject cruelty can often themselves become highly dangerous. Asian elephants, when provoked, can attack, often fatally. According to Save the Asian Elephants, at least 700 tourists and others have been killed in the past generation, and 900 more have sustained catastrophic injuries.
While preparing for this debate, I was privileged to meet Helen Costigan, whose 20 year-old sister Andrea died tragically on a visit to Thailand in 2000 when an elephant, which had been trained in the barbaric way I described, charged her at the Nong Nooch resort. Nearly a quarter of a century on, this cruel and dangerous resort, still with no safety measures in place, is still promoted to unsuspecting tourists by 120 UK-based entities. Helen supports the Bill and is working with Save the Asian Elephants not just to help bring an end to animal cruelty but to save human lives too.
We cannot do this on our own. This is a global problem, but it is incumbent on us to do all we can to lead the way. The Bill is not a magic wand, but it will do a huge amount to tackle the problem at source by ending in England and Northern Ireland the sale and advertising of tourism to places abroad where wildlife is cruelly exploited in the way I described, and because of the size of the UK market that will make a real impact. A survey from World Animal Protection in 2018 showed that 51% of UK tourists who visited dolphin venues purchased their dolphin experience right here as a result of marketing and advertising. The same year, 2 million UK tourists visited India and Thailand, with nearly a third of those visiting Thailand reporting having ridden or tried to ride an elephant, unaware of the cruelty, and indeed the danger to human life, involved in it. More than 1,200 companies in the UK market currently promote almost 300 overseas so-called attractions which often make their money from the barbaric treatment of Asian elephants. We sit on top of an awful, unchecked market, feeding violence against animals, malnutrition, overwork, loneliness and despair.
Along with the work being done by the industry on a voluntary basis, the Bill will make a significant difference by dampening demand. How will it work? Clauses 1 and 2 set up a framework of offences involving the sale and advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad. Clause 3 outlines the penalties, prosecutions and liabilities for offences under the legislation. Clause 4 provides relevant enforcement powers. Clause 5 establishes procedures for making regulations in the UK Parliament and the Northern Ireland legislature, while Clauses 6 and 7 deal with interpretation and the territorial extent of the Bill. Noble Lords will have noted that the Bill relates only to England and Northern Ireland. The devolved Administrations in Scotland and Wales have the power to choose what UK government legislation they wish to consent to, and I hope they will look carefully at the Bill, particularly in view of the huge public support for action across all parts of the UK, including Scotland and Wales.
As I said earlier, the legislation on its own will not end the terrible animal cruelty masquerading as entertainment that takes place in some parts of the world, but it is a huge leap forward in protecting wild animals and demonstrating our commitment as a country to establishing world-leading standards for animal welfare. I hope it will also continue to raise the profile of this issue and educate the public by making clear that activities and attractions that are marketed as wildlife tourism often flourish as a result of unimaginable cruelty to animals and are a huge welfare risk to humans.
We are a nation of animal lovers and proud of it. The Bill gives us a chance to lead the way. It will be a world first and put down another crucial marker in the battle against animal cruelty. It will hoist a flag around which other nations can rally. I hope that this House will look with favour on it and show again that we understand the force of Gandhi’s famous words:
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.
Let us now play our part. I beg to move.
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)
My Lords, I stand to speak in support of this Private Member’s Bill and to congratulate Angela Richardson MP in the other place and my noble friend Lord Black on ensuring its introduction and safe passage through Parliament. I am delighted to support the Bill, which will ban the promotion and sale of activities abroad where animals are ill treated and harmed for tourism.
Charles Darwin wrote:
“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man”.
I am a pet owner and feel strongly that we should ensure that animals in our care are treated with kindness. Like my noble friend, I believe that animal welfare is one of the litmus tests of a civilised society, and I hope others agree that it is intolerable that animals should be subjected to trauma, fear and pain.
As has already been highlighted, the scale of animal cruelty in wildlife tourism cannot be overestimated. More than 500,000 animals are currently known to be involved in tourist entertainment in low-welfare establishments where cruel and inhumane training methods are often used to force animals into submission. World Animal Protection’s 2016 report found that three in four wildlife tourist attractions involve some form of conservation concern or animal abuse. These ratings were based on animals’ ability to experience five freedoms that we take for granted: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from fear and distress; and freedom to behave normally. We should not and must not stand by.
This legislation will prevent UK travel companies profiting from and fuelling the problem. While I understand that there has been guidance from the Association of British Travel Agents, it is only voluntary and has not been taken up widely enough. We need to ensure that tourists are informed so that they choose not to buy holidays involving animals that have been treated cruelly. While I am proud that this country has one of the highest animal welfare records in the world, and I was pleased to read the cross-party and government support this Bill had as it passed through the other place, we must not be complacent. Exploitation and unethical methods of training should not be used to force animals into submission.
Like my noble friend, I was sent horrific and sickening photos by organisations lobbying for the Bill. My noble friend described how Asian elephants, in particular, suffer from extreme cruelty. They are often snatched in the wild, with their mothers killed in front of them, and then their spirit is broken by isolation, starvation, stabbings and beatings to make them easy to use for tourism. The captive trade in primates is threatening some species with extinction, all for an Instagram cuddle. Many big cats in captivity, such as tigers, lions and leopards, may have been deliberately separated from their mothers just days after being born, depriving them of the nutritious milk necessary for their growth and development, as well as maternal care. As we heard, when they become too dangerous to handle, they are often killed or sold. Many lions in South Africa cuddled by paying tourists when they were cubs may end up being shot by paying trophy hunters. There are around 3,500 whales and dolphins languishing in small concrete tanks around the world, deprived of their natural habitat.
It is not just the horrific treatment of the animals involved in tourist entertainment. We also need to consider the wider risks that low welfare standards bring. For example, Save the Asian Elephants research reports that the number of Asian elephants engaged in tourism in Thailand has increased by 70% in recent years, yet the global population has crashed from millions in the 19th century to barely 40,000 today, with an estimated 40% of them in captivity. Asian elephants are now considered an endangered series, and there are wider biodiversity, ecosystem and environmental impacts as the megagardeners of the forests are being enslaved. Unethical tourism has contributed to too many species suffering dramatic decline.
Before I finish, I too pay tribute to my noble friend Lady Fookes, who has spoken so often and is such a powerful advocate for animal welfare. We hope to see her back in the House soon.
To conclude, UK travel companies should not sell wildlife holidays that involve animal cruelty, and we should encourage other nations to do likewise. As it is so powerful, I beg the indulgence of the House to use Mahatma Gandhi’s quote again:
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.
I support the Bill and wish it a speedy passage through our House.
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Black of Brentwood, a notable champion of animal welfare, has laid out with clarity the measures in the Bill and the penalties attached for non-compliance. It is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson of Abinger, another champion of animal welfare.
I fully support the aims of the Bill, which was trailed in the Government’s Our Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published in 2021 by the then Secretary of State George Eustice. I have received briefings giving details of the harm and suffering caused to animals forced to perform acts that are unnatural to them in order to please tourists.
In the past, it has sometimes been the case that a family with a terminally ill child would take that child abroad to swim with a dolphin. It is a natural reaction of a loving parent to give their child a unique opportunity in the last months of their life, but the other side of this type of tourism also has to be considered. The noble Baroness, Lady Hodgson, and the noble Lord, Lord Black, listed the appalling treatment meted out to some of these animals.
The Government are obviously supporting this Private Member’s Bill, but to protect animals abroad from unnecessary cruelty it should be borne in mind that curtailing the freedom of choice for the tourist is necessary. It is not ethical to keep wild animals in restricted captivity that does not allow them freedom to roam. Such restriction may cause them to behave in an uncertain fashion. The interaction of humans with wild animals is fraught with danger. Encounters could encourage the transmission of zoonotic diseases. There could be incidents where a visiting tourist may be injured or even killed—the noble Lord, Lord Black, referred to 700 tourists being killed. Banning the promotion of tourist activities abroad involving interaction with wild animals that would not be permitted under our domestic law is the right way forward. In 2022, Savanta conducted an online survey in 15 countries, including the UK, commissioned by World Animal Protection; 81% of UK responders agreed that countries should stop the commercial exploitation of wild animals.
I fully support the ethos and aims of the Bill but, as I am sure the Minister expects, I have some questions. I have read the Hansard transcripts of Second and Third Readings in the other place and I am fully conversant with the types of appalling activities that the Bill is attempting to prevent. Discouraging direct tourism from engaging with wild animals is clearly essential.
The Bill makes it clear that the measures apply only to England and Northern Ireland. It also gives immunity to anyone advertising these activities by means of electronic transmission. This means that if, for instance, I go online and search, “riding with elephants in Thailand”, I will get an almost immediate response and a choice of providers with which I can book. At some point, I assume, I will have to put in my address and, if the address is in England or Northern Ireland, the advertiser will then say, “I’m sorry, but we can’t help you; we operate out of England and Northern Ireland”, or whichever it may be. However, if the advertiser is operating out of Wales and Scotland, I assume that I can then book what could be the trip of a lifetime. This seems like a massive loophole.
Another loophole concerns the use of the phrase “principal market” in Clause 2(5)(b) for anyone printing anything outside the UK, and whose principal market is not the UK. It will be difficult for an enforcement agency to determine what constitutes a principal market and subsequently demonstrate that the company has passed a threshold for a principal market. Furthermore, it will be difficult to prove that a principal market is within the UK and so an offence has been committed. Removing the word “principal” from Clause 2(5)(b) would mean that the legislation would cover any advertisement intended for England or Northern Ireland and would remove confusion. I realise that amending the Bill will cause it to be delayed or, worse, lost. Can the Minister indicate how we can strengthen the Bill without this happening?
There are 11 occasions in this short Bill when the phrase
“in a relevant part of the United Kingdom”
is used. The Explanatory Notes make it clear that this means England and Northern Ireland. So if I am not IT-literate or I prefer the personal touch, and I go to a travel agent and attempt to book such an experience, in England and Northern Ireland it will not be possible. However, if I live close to the borders of Wales or Scotland, I can nip across and make my booking there. Can the Minister reassure me that this will not happen? The Bill does not indicate that Wales and Scotland already have such a ban in place, and the noble Lord, Lord Black, has indicated that they do not. Are the Government consulting with the devolved Administrations to ensure that a ban is brought forward without delay? There is no mention in Hansard transcripts from the other place that this has been a consideration. Clause 2(6)(b) limits the scope of the legislation to persons carrying on a business
“in a relevant part of the United Kingdom at the time of the distribution”.
Would omitting the word “relevant” close this potential loophole? Can the Minister clarify how this loophole can be addressed?
I turn my attention to the issue of enforcement, and refer to my entry in the register as a vice-president of the LGA. The police are not involved in the enforcement breaches of this legislation. This is to be done by trading standards officers under the auspices of local authority weights and measures metrology departments. We have had debates previously about the shortage of professionally trained trading standards officers. Are the Government confident that there will be sufficient officers available to take on this additional work? The public are very keen that this Bill should work.
In short, we have a Bill that should work but which penalises only those who print and publish written literature, presumably in the form of flyers and posters, and not those who publish the same material online; plus the Bill’s powers extend to England and Northern Ireland but not to Wales and Scotland, where we have no physical borders. I am keen that this Bill should get on to the statute and that it should work, but currently I am unclear that it will achieve its objective. I am looking to the Minister for reassurance.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black of Brentwood, for his excellent and thorough introduction of the Bill to your Lordships’ House, as well as Angela Richardson MP for steering it through the other place. I would also like to thank a number of charities that have been campaigning on this issue: the RSPCA, World Animal Protection, Animal Welfare and Four Paws. In particular, I want to thank Save the Asian Elephants and Duncan McNair, who is with us today. I genuinely believe we would not be here debating this Bill were it not for the work that he has done, and I congratulate him.
As has been mentioned, the Bill has strong cross-party support. The legislation will represent a significant step forward in protecting wild animals from the cruelty and exploitation that we have been hearing about in this debate. It will also demonstrate the UK’s role in establishing world-leading standards on animal welfare in this area. However, to realise this ambition the Bill must deliver effectively its objective of banning the promotion and sale of animal activities abroad that would be illegal under domestic legislation.
We have heard that the intent of this Bill has overwhelming public support, and we have heard the poll evidence to support that. Every year, hundreds of thousands of wild animals are exploited for entertainment in the global tourism industry. As research has shown, one of the problems is that many of these wildlife tourist attractions have impacts of which the tourists who take advantage of them have absolutely no idea. Common examples that we have heard include elephant rides and swimming with dolphins experiences. For these actions to take place, there are cruel training techniques, coercive control, conditioned unnatural behaviours, stressful interactions and so on. Many of these animals are highly intelligent and this is appallingly cruel treatment.
By discouraging the sale and promotion of such activities, the proposed Bill aims to help steer the market towards promoting more ethical and welfare-friendly tourism. Some travel companies have taken steps to restrict the sale of low-welfare activities to their customers but, unfortunately, many well-known companies continue to sell these cruel and exploitative wildlife experiences.
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, for mentioning Helen Costigan and her sister. They had the most appalling experience and terrible tragedy, and it is important that we put into the context of this the human tragedy that can come out of the treatment of animals in this way.
We support the Bill because it aims to improve animal welfare overseas by prohibiting the sale and advertising of such activities. To ensure the smooth passage of the Bill, we are not going to table any amendments. However, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, said, there are some areas where we would like clarification from the Minister to ensure that it meets its objectives effectively.
Activity regulations must reflect the changing market for low-welfare activities abroad. Regulations must be kept in alignment with changes in domestic animal welfare legislation as well as evolving scientific understanding of animal sentience and its impact on animal welfare. In the absence of a duty to review regulations, is the Minister able to confirm how activity regulations are going to remain comprehensive and up to date?
The noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, mentioned some of our other concerns so I will not go into great detail, but one is the use of the phrase “principal market” in Clause 2(5)(b). Our concern, as she laid out, is that this could open up a loophole. We agree with her that removing “principal” from the clause would mean that the legislation covered any advertisement intended for England or Northern Ireland and remove any confusion. I wonder if the Minister would consider taking that back to his department to have a further look at it.
The other concern is about widening the parameters of committing an offence, as raised by the noble Baroness. She talked about “relevant”, which is extremely important. We are concerned that it risks excluding from prosecution people based in Scotland or Wales who sell or promote regulated activities in England or Northern Ireland, as she laid out. We agree with her that omitting “relevant” would close that potential loophole. If the Minister were able to clarify that the department would look at that how that loophole could be addressed, we would be grateful.
We very much support this legislation and want it on the statute book but it is important that it is fit for purpose, so we look forward to the Minister’s reassurances regarding the questions that we have asked.
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Benyon) (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful to all who have spoken in this debate. I am pleased to be speaking in support of the Bill and to see such interest in this legislation from across the House. I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Black and his colleague in the other place, Angela Richardson, for the eloquence and passion that they have put into this and the excellent work they have done with a variety of different organisations to make sure that we have some legislation here that will be effective and will reflect both the need and what our public demand, which is ever higher animal welfare standards.
This legislation is welcome, as domestic travel agents are currently able to advertise and sell unacceptably low-welfare activities abroad to tourists without any regulation. The Bill will prohibit the advertising and offering for sale in England and Northern Ireland of tourist-related activities abroad involving animals. The Bill will provide a framework under which secondary legislation may be used to implement bans on specific low-welfare activities abroad, examples of which include riding, bathing and taking selfies with animals. The animals used in such practices are often trained using, as my noble friend said, brutal methods that allow tourists to get within touching distance of them. For any activity to be deemed within scope of a specific ban will involve animals that are kept in conditions or subject to treatment that would not be permitted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 or the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.
Throughout the Bill’s passage it has been made clear that low-welfare activities involving Asian elephants are likely to fall within the scope of this legislation. There has been especially strong support for a ban to be introduced in this area. Asian elephant rides, bathing and other similar activities are extremely popular with tourists. However, aside from the suboptimal conditions that the elephants are often kept in, what is not seen is the cruel training methods that they are subject to in order to make them a safe tourist attraction.
While close interactions with captive wild animals are seen by many as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, surely it would be far more fulfilling to observe these animals displaying natural behaviours in natural environments in just the way that nature intended. The Bill aims to encourage tourists to visit high-welfare attractions where animals are free to display more natural behaviours and cruel practices are not used to train them for human entertainment.
World Animal Protection’s 2022 report The Real Responsible Traveller states that sanctuaries that are certified by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, and which do not breed for commercial purposes, are likely to offer the highest standards of care to their animals. An example of a high-welfare attraction is ChangChill in northern Thailand, which has become one of the first elephant attractions to transition to an observation-only model. The venue has become a popular tourist attraction, demonstrating that there is a demand for animal-friendly, observation-only tourism.
A scant look at what is being advertised as we sit here today shows quite the opposite in other locations. From the comfort of the UK you can
“pre-book your joy ride on the back of an elephant”
without any knowledge of what that elephant went through in order for you to have an experience that you might think was trouble-free but, clearly, so often is not.
It has been predicted that, as the travel industry picks up following the pandemic, the UK’s outbound travel figures will surpass pre-pandemic levels. It has been estimated that by 2024 up to 86.9 million outbound travel bookings could be made per year. In 2019, 79% of travellers who witnessed animal cruelty said they would pay more for an activity where they knew that the animals did not suffer. However, it is often difficult for tourists to make that judgment on whether the animals they are interacting with are, or have been, subject to cruelty.
I join the noble Baroness in paying tribute to Save the Asian Elephants for the endless work that it has done on this and so many other areas in protecting this extremely at-risk species. Today I also remember my late friend Mark Shand, who set up and ran Elephant Family, which continues to do noble work in trying to create the wildlife corridors that will allow that extraordinary species to survive in its own environment at a time when there is huge human pressure on it, as there is on so many species.
I shall address some of the questions that were put to me by the two noble Baronesses who represent their parties on the Front Bench. The Bill focuses on advertising and sales taking place in England or Northern Ireland, not those taking place abroad. If an advert is distributed by means of electronic transmission and the person does not carry on business in England or Northern Ireland, we could not prevent that from happening—that has to be said. However, we hope that, if we bring in a domestic ban, awareness-raising will influence potential tourists and dissuade them from pursuing unacceptable activities abroad.
The guidance that we are giving to enforcement bodies will be developed for trading standards in England and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland so they will be able to effectively enforce the Bill. The guidance will be produced as and when specific bans are introduced.
Despite not being UK-wide, the Bill will still make it possible to ban the advertising and sale here of low-welfare animal activities abroad to consumers in England and Northern Ireland. That will send a strong message that these activities are not deemed acceptable.
While it will not be possible to stop prospective tourists purchasing unacceptable activities abroad from a travel agent in Wales or Scotland, the Government hope that consumers living in England or Northern Ireland who are planning a holiday abroad will make a positive decision, in line with the legislation in England or Northern Ireland. We work closely with the devolved Governments in both those countries to make sure that, where possible, our animal welfare policies align. In some cases, they have been a little ahead of us; in other cases, like now, we are a bit ahead of them. But there is an inexorable acceptance that we want sensible animal welfare policies such as this to be UK-wide, and we will continue to work with them to ensure that that happens.
On the question of the “principal market” point, the use of the term “principal market” relates to the market for which a publication is intended. Clause 2(5) is aimed at ensuring that a business is not treated as having committed an offence if a publication is printed and published outside England or Northern Ireland and is not intended principally for a market that includes an audience in England or Northern Ireland. Therefore, the exclusion in Clause 2(5) does not apply to a publication that is printed outside England or Northern Ireland and contains a prohibited advertisement if it is published or distributed in England or Northern Ireland and the publication was principally intended for a market that includes an audience in England or Northern Ireland—I promise your Lordships that that makes sense; I read it through several times before I said it.
I want to make sure that we have legislation that works, and what I say to the House is this: let us not make the perfect the enemy of the good. We have a very tight timetable, particularly for Private Members’ Bills, and if we have to bounce too much back and forward between the two Houses, there is a timing risk. I am not using that as a threat, but just saying that I live in the realities of the timetable. I know that all sides appreciate that. I just want to get this on the statute book as quickly as possible.
The Government will have the ability, through supporting the Bill, to bring forward future targeted bans on low-welfare activities involving animals. The details of these bans will provide clarity to the tourism industry and their consumers on whether specific activities are deemed acceptable or not. With the knowledge of animal welfare that we have as a nation, we must take the necessary steps to steer UK tourists away from entertainment overseas that involves the unacceptable treatment of animals, and instead towards activities where animal welfare is appropriately protected. By disallowing the advertising and sale, here, of attractions abroad involving low-welfare practices, we can also encourage the providers of such low-welfare animal activities abroad to switch to better methods.
No matter how big or small, any change that we are able to make to influence global animal welfare for the better should be seen as a positive move. The Government are committed to raising animal welfare standards worldwide and take such matters very seriously. From the debate today, the importance of animal welfare to us is clear, not only domestically but across the world. I hope that the introduction of this Bill marks a step in the right direction towards fundamental changes in the way that animals are treated in the tourism industry. In closing, I reiterate my support for the Bill and my huge appreciation to my noble friend for bringing it to the House today and to all noble Lords for their contributions to this debate.
Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)
I am incredibly grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part today. My noble friend Lady Hodgson was absolutely right to say that we must not be complacent and she had a powerful message, which is one for us all to note: that the price of an Instagram selfie is indescribable, sickening cruelty—and more people need to understand that.
The noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, underlined the threats to human life, including the spread of zoonotic diseases, another important issue which had not been raised in the debate. I am grateful to her and to the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, for raising some important issues. I associate myself with the comments of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, about Save the Asian Elephants and the work of Duncan McNair. I too have no doubt that we would not be at this point if it was not for that tireless campaigning.
I am grateful to my noble friend the Minister for making clear, with his customary eloquence and passion, the Government’s continuing commitment and support, and for answering so many of the questions involved. This may not be an absolutely perfect Bill, but it is a very good start, and it is important that we get it on the statute book as soon as possible—I think we will all have taken note of the important things that he said about timing. I am also grateful for his commitment to working with the devolved Governments to achieve UK-wide implementation as soon as that is practical.
As I said earlier, our struggle to improve animal welfare is a long and continuing journey but, at the end of the day, those we are seeking to protect have no voice of their own. What we as a House are showing today in supporting this Bill is that we can be that voice, and that we will not let them down. There is much to do, but this is a vital staging post in our journey. I hope we can make swift progress in getting it on to the statute book as soon as possible.
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Tuesday 5th September 2023
(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)
My Lords, I understand that no amendments have been set down to this Bill and that no noble Lord has indicated a wish to move a manuscript amendment or to speak in Committee. Unless, therefore, any noble Lord objects, I beg to move that the order of commitment be discharged.
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Benyon) (Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Black for his good stewardship of this Bill. I also thank my noble friend Lord Borwick for his engagement on it. I refer the House to my letter of assurance, which has been placed in the Library of the House.
Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Bill
Monday 18th September 2023
(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)
My Lords, as this Bill relates to advertising, I declare an interest as a director of the Advertising Standards Board of Finance and note my other interests.
I thank all those in this House and beyond who have been involved in the passage of this extremely important piece of animal welfare legislation. It is a world first, and underlines yet again the shining commitment of the UK and this Government to the protection of animals, not just within our own shores but internationally. The Bill started in another place, and I want to record my deep thanks to Angela Richardson MP for stewarding it so effectively there. I am in her debt.
I am also very grateful to my noble friend Lord Benyon, the Minister, for the work he has put into it and for his deep personal commitment. His devotion to the cause of animal welfare is unshakeable, as he has demonstrated throughout the leadership of this Bill. He has been supported by an indomitable team of officials, who have given generously of their time and wisdom to ensure that this Bill reaches safe harbour. They are: Mia Kirby, Annemarie Green, Amina Khatun, Lucy Ovington, Rhian Mewis, Thomas Pryke, Adam Richardson and David Budd. My profound thanks go to them all.
This Bill has enjoyed strong cross-party support in the best traditions of this House. I am indebted to the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman of Ullock and Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, for the strong backing they have given it, as well as the scrutiny, which is right and proper. Above all, I pay tribute to all the charities which have campaigned so vigorously and effectively to get us to this point. Four Paws, World Animal Protection, the RSPCA and many others have played a huge part. However, I want to single out Save the Asian Elephants and its indefatigable CEO, Duncan McNair, who has campaigned long and hard for this legislation with great skill and energy. Indeed, he devised the original concept of the Bill and has worked tirelessly on it; we would not be here without him. To all those who have been involved and who have campaigned, I say: this is your day, and you deserve it.
As we noted during Second Reading, this Bill currently applies only to England and Northern Ireland. I hope that my noble friend the Minister and his colleagues will continue to do what they can to ensure that the devolved institutions in Scotland and Wales come on board so that we can make this UK-wide legislation.
This legislation is just the starting point in helping to protect those animals that suffer such cruelty in the name of animal tourism, such as Asian elephants, dolphins, whales, tigers and lions, baby monkeys and much marine and avian life. Horrific barbarism, which is inflicted on so many of these defenceless creatures, will not end overnight. But this Bill will, I am certain, be the catalyst for profound change.
Let us not forget that this Bill is also about protecting human life. Never again do we want to see another incident like that involving Andrea Taylor, who was killed by a scarred, scared and terrified elephant, brutalised into submission in the name of tourism, and whose sister, Helen Costigan, has been such a strong supporter of the Bill. We think today of Andrea and Helen and the families of others who have been killed or injured because of this cruelty.
From the moment I arrived here, 13 or so years ago, I believed my role—and I know that so many other noble Lords think likewise—was to represent and protect those who have no voice. By passing the Bill today, we do just that, and we do so in the best traditions of Parliament. We should take great pride in this achievement.
Lord Harlech (Con)
My Lords, as noble Lords will be aware, the Northern Ireland Civil Service continues to face a number of challenges in the absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the subsequent lack of an Executive. For this reason, it has not been possible to engage in the legislative consent process for this or any other Bill.
Given the importance of animal welfare, positive engagement at official level and advice we have received from the Northern Ireland Permanent Secretary and that previous animal welfare Ministers expressed support for this Bill, we will proceed to legislate on behalf of Northern Ireland without the formal legislative consent of the Northern Ireland Assembly. We will continue to engage with the Northern Ireland Permanent Secretary to keep them informed throughout this process.
I thank my noble friend Lord Black of Brentwood for his hard work in guiding the Bill through this House to this stage and for his commitment to, and passion for, animal welfare. I pay tribute to my honourable friend the Member for Guildford, Angela Richardson, for her success in steering the Bill through the other place with such enthusiasm and eloquence. I also extend my thanks to all the charities involved in this work, including Save the Asian Elephants, the RSPCA, World Animal Protection and Four Paws UK, for their continued support for the Bill.
I am grateful to all noble Lords who contributed to the Second Reading debate, and pleased that the Bill has been widely supported across the House. Throughout its passage we have heard about the horrific conditions that animals are subjected to in the name of tourism, and I am pleased that we have had the opportunity to debate, discuss and raise awareness of such an important issue. I will not repeat the discussion at Second Reading, but I emphasise that the Bill demonstrates the UK’s commitment to being a global leader in animal welfare standards. I am pleased to reiterate the Government’s support for the Bill, and I look forward to seeing it on the statute book.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, I shall be brief. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, for all his work on the Bill. It started out as part of the ill-fated animals abroad Bill, so the fact that he has brought it here from the other place as a Private Member’s Bill and that it has made such good progress is due to his effort and commitment, and we really appreciate the work he has put into it.
As he said, it has had cross-party support and a lot of support from different animal welfare charities. Like him, I particularly single out Duncan McNair and the Save the Asian Elephants charity, which has been absolutely fixated on delivering the Bill through the Chamber. It has done a terrific job of working extremely constructively with all those who care about this issue, as have the noble Lords, Lord Black and Lord Benyon, the Minister. It is always good to see a Bill passing when we have had success, with lots of constructive work and feedback. I add my thanks to all the people who have worked on the Bill.
I fully endorse the noble Lord’s words about Helen Costigan, her family and her sister. That family has been extraordinary in its efforts to work with us to understand the human impact as well as the animal welfare impact of this legislation. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Black, and I am delighted that the Government support the Bill.
Royal Assent
Monday 18th September 2023
(1 year, 3 months ago)
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