Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

Earl of Courtown Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 5th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, I support the Bill wholeheartedly and congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Trees, on introducing this excellent legislation to this House. On many occasions, this subject has been raised in Private Members’ Bills. I hope that this time we will get it through.

This is about raising concerns on the legal and illegal puppy trade, the age at and distressing conditions in which animals are transported, and the very real threat of dog-to-dog and dog-to-human disease. The current rules remain worryingly vulnerable to abuse. Puppies and kittens are still being imported far too young, legally and illegally, often in appalling conditions and too often with falsified or unsatisfactory health documentation. These animals and their parents continue to suffer greatly, and the unsuspecting families who purchase them are left heartbroken when the animals fall ill or die prematurely. The Bill seeks to tackle those harms by restricting the import of puppies and kittens under six months of age, by prohibiting the importation of heavily pregnant animals and by clamping down on the cruel practice of cropping dogs’ ears or docking their tails abroad only to sell them here, as mentioned by many noble Lords.

The Bill also closes loopholes in the pet travel scheme which have been exploited by unscrupulous traders masquerading as private owners. I also wish to raise awareness of the new documentary, “Dogspiracy”, which highlights commercial dog breeding in the USA and follows Dr Marc Abraham OBE, an English vet, as he seeks to stop the cruel puppy mill industry, end puppy smuggling and ban US pet stores from selling puppies. Marc is the founder of the successful “Lucy’s law” campaign to ban third-party commercial puppy dealing, thus making all breeders accountable, and he provides the secretariat for the All-Party Dog Advisory Welfare Group, of which I am proud to be an officer.

The Bill is not just about protecting animals but protecting the public. As mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, rabies, brucellosis, tapeworm and several other serious diseases remain ever-present risks. By strengthening import rules and improving enforcement, the Bill reduces the chance of devastating outbreaks, thereby safeguarding human health and the health of our domestic pet population.

The noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, mentioned the movement of young puppies from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland continues to follow elements of EU law on pet travel. That creates a serious loophole. The 2019 amendment to the 2018 regulations permits breeders to sell puppies under a pet sales licence, rather than a breeder’s licence, if the dog was bred overseas. This enables breeding to take place in facilities that can evade scrutiny and provide no guarantee of meeting English licensing standards. Therefore, young puppies bred in large numbers in Northern Ireland can be legally moved into Great Britain and sold legally in pet shops without having been seen with their mother.

The 2019 regulations mean that there are now two distinct sets of standards for puppies sold in England, depending on whether they are bred here or abroad. Under the former, strict scrutiny of the breeding premises is required and the puppy can be sold only from the place of birth and in the presence of the mother—Lucy’s law. Under the latter, these important protections are absent, with all the potential for negative consequences on puppy welfare and socialisation and on human and puppy health. This loophole needs closing as soon as possible.

In closing, can the Minister tell the House how the Bill will interact with the Windsor Framework? What steps will the Government take to ensure that the route from Northern Ireland to Great Britain does not remain a weak link in our efforts to curb the inappropriate legal and cruel illegal puppy trade?

I should finally give mention to Jeanie, a rescue Scottish terrier who died recently, sadly. As other noble Lords have said, when people get pets they must look at taking a rescue dog as an option—a very good option.

Biodiversity and Conservation

Earl of Courtown Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Grayling for enabling us to discuss this important subject. Nature-based solutions and the enhancement of our biodiversity are our greatest ally in tackling climate change and mitigating flood risk, yet we are in the midst of an ecological crisis both in the UK and globally. Over the past 50 years, the UK has lost nearly half of its biodiversity, making it one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. This is not just an environmental issue; it is an economic and social one, where the integrity of our natural environment should be enmeshed with the implementation of policy in order to support our food security, public health and economic stability.

The introduction of biodiversity net gain is a step in the right direction, requiring developers to leave nature in a better state than they found it. Biodiversity net gain is already starting to drive investment in habitat restoration. However, we must ensure that it delivers real, measurable improvements on the ground. That means robust enforcement, clear biodiversity metrics and a genuine focus on local nature recovery. This is not about box-ticking exercises or distant offsetting. I agree with what my noble friend Lord Grayling said about needing clarity on this subject.

Local nature recovery projects are another crucial piece of the puzzle. These projects give communities the tools to restore their own landscapes, whether through tree-planting, wetland creation or species reintroduction. However, ambition needs funding, which is why the Nature Restoration Fund must be expanded and made easier to access. Right now, too many projects are struggling to get off the ground due to bureaucracy or short-term funding cycles. If we are serious about reversing biodiversity loss, we need to match policy ambition with financial backing.

Of course, public funds alone cannot deliver the scale of restoration needed. The private sector must play a bigger role. For that to happen, though, we need the right financial incentives. One of the most effective ways to unlock private investment is to integrate the UK Woodland Carbon Code and the peatland code into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. This would give businesses a clear, regulated pathway to invest in nature-based carbon sequestration, ensuring that woodland creation and peatland restoration received long-term financial support. At a time when public funding is tight, this is a market-driven solution that could deliver major environmental and economic benefits.

Beyond our borders, the UK must continue to play a leadership role in global nature finance. At the Cali COP, we made real progress by securing a deal on resource mobilisation and launching the Cali Fund for nature. This new funding mechanism is designed to direct financial resources into biodiversity projects worldwide, particularly in countries on the front line of ecological collapse.

Here at home, there are further steps that we can take to drive nature recovery. Much of the debate is at the broader scale of biodiversity environment level but within our natural world are populations and individual sentient animals. We must develop and manage our natural world. Here I acknowledge the important Bill that my noble friend Lady Helic will bring forward in due course on a close season for hares. I urge action as soon as possible to resolve the long-standing inconsistency in our laws for animals. A close season for hares is long overdue: the shocking screams of hares as they are shot during driven shoots in February, at a time when does are pregnant and lactating, is an anathema to an animal-loving country.

I look forward to hearing how the Minister responds to this debate.

Biodiversity Net Gain

Earl of Courtown Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Clearly, this is still fairly new for planning applications. It came in only eight months ago, so we are considering how we move forward. I do not have data on that to hand, and I am not sure we would have it available at present, as it has been only about eight months, but I will check and get back to the noble Lord.

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, the last Government improved biodiversity monitoring, setting targets to prevent species loss and create half a million hectares of habitat by 2042. Given the important role nature-based solutions play in improving biodiversity, can the Minister confirm that the Government will encourage the use of such solutions to tackle pollution from our water sector?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Earl makes an extremely important point. Of course, it is very important that we use nature-based solutions to tackle all kinds of pollution, not only water-based ones. We are very keen to see such solutions implemented.