Found: The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is to introduce legislation to end (a) puppy and (b) kitten smuggling.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to the United Kingdom.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to help prevent international puppy smuggling.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As outlined in our manifesto, we are committed to ending puppy smuggling. The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will close loopholes in the non-commercial pet travel rules that are abused by unscrupulous traders and give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to Great Britain’s pet market.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to prevent imports of animals with harmful mutilations.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to Great Britain’s pet market. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of dogs and cats with non-exempted mutilations such as cropping ears, docking tails and declawing.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for banning the import of dogs with cropped ears.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will give the Government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to Great Britain’s pet market. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of dogs with non-exempted mutilations such as cropped ears.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ban the importation of pregnant cats in the last half of their pregnancy.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The Bill will give the government powers to prevent the supply of low-welfare pets to Great Britain’s pet market. We will use these powers to prohibit the bringing into Great Britain of cats that are more than 42 days pregnant.

We are fully supportive of this Bill and would like to see it pass through both Houses as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including (a) cats and (b) kittens in legislation to prevent pet smuggling.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recently announced its support for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP. The measures in the Bill will extend to cats and kittens, and close loopholes exploited by unscrupulous pet traders.

Puppy smuggling bill

Found: The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill – sponsored by Dr Danny Chambers MP – will

Found: The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP, makes provision

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to calls from Dogs Trust to ban the (a) non-commercial transport of pregnant dogs in the last 30% of their gestation period, meaning more than 42 days pregnant, as a minimum, and (b) commercial movement of pregnant dogs, to tackle any illegal puppy smuggling.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) consideration had been given to and (b) action it will take regarding Dogs Trust's calls to raise the minimum legal age for dogs travelling non-commercially into the UK to help tackle any illegal puppy smuggling.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to raise the minimum legal age for dogs travelling non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to raise the minimum legal age of dogs travelling non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07415 by Mairi Gougeon on 29 March 2022, regarding the potential impact in Scotland, what assessment it has made of Dogs Trust's recommendation that the number of pet animals able to travel to Great Britain be reduced from five to three per vehicle, in light of the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill being withdrawn.

Answered by Fairlie, Jim - Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.

The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.