Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

Andrew Selous Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I am conscious of how much puppy prices have increased, particularly during the pandemic. While I welcome the reduction to five pets per person, I am a little concerned that if they were five high-value puppies, that may be still be worth a criminal’s while. Will the Secretary of State be prepared to keep that number under review, for higher-value puppies in particular?

[George Eustice]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. We have an important balance to strike. Obviously, these rules are for non-commercial pets, and there are people who may have several dogs that they travel with. We are trying to strike the balance such that we ensure that we do not have a situation where innocent people travelling with their pets suddenly need a commercial licence, while significantly tightening the regime to prevent abuse of the non-commercial pet travel route.

The Bill includes an enabling power that will allow us to implement further restrictions on the importation of dogs, cats and ferrets on welfare grounds through secondary legislation. We have recently conducted a consultation on the detail of those measures, including proposals to raise the minimum age for importing puppies and to prohibit the import of heavily pregnant dogs and dogs with cropped ears and docked tails. That consultation closed on 16 October, and we will be working to analyse the responses over the coming weeks.

Thirdly, the Bill delivers on our manifesto commitment to ban the keeping of primates as domestic pets in England. Primates have highly complex welfare and social needs, making them unsuitable to be kept in a home environment. I saw the consequences of that myself during a visit to the Wild Futures monkey sanctuary several years ago with my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Mrs Murray). I congratulate her on her work in this area—she previously brought forward a private Member’s Bill—along with other hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for South Dorset (Richard Drax), who has also raised this issue with me repeatedly over the years.

People keeping primates outside of licensed zoos and scientific facilities will now need to obtain a specialist primate keeper licence to do so. That new licence will ensure that the only people keeping primates are those able to meet the highest welfare standards appropriate to meet their welfare needs.

Primate keepers will be required to apply to their local authority for a licence and will be subject to inspections by a suitably qualified person. Only a person holding a licence will be able to buy, sell, transfer or breed primates. The local authority will have the power to revoke a licence if the prescribed conditions are not adhered to, and in instances where primates are being kept illegally, it will be able to seize and rehome them. At the request of Welsh Ministers, we will bring forward a Government amendment in Committee to extend this measure to Wales.

The fourth set of measures in the Bill will update legislation going back to the 1950s on dogs attacking and worrying livestock. Livestock worrying is a serious and increasing problem, which can cause significant emotional and financial consequences for livestock keepers. The legislation will be updated to cover all places where livestock are kept or may be present, such as on roads while being moved from one field to another.

Updating the legislation will also ensure that it covers all the types of livestock now more commonly kept for production, or for other purposes, in England, including camelids, emus, ostriches and enclosed deer. Crucially, the reformed provisions will also give the police more enforcement powers to prevent recurring incidents. Police will be able to seize and detain a dog until the end of an investigation, or the withdrawal or conclusion of a court case. Police will also be able to use DNA testing to collect evidence. I pay tribute to the work done in this area by a number of hon. Members, including my hon. Friends the Members for Ynys Môn (Virginia Crosbie) and for Aberconwy (Robin Millar).

Finally, we will update the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 to ensure animal welfare and conservation standards in zoos are strengthened, and can be updated and enforced more effectively. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the UK Zoos Expert Committee are currently overhauling the “Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice”. The standards, which set out conditions that local authorities must have regard to when setting requirements of zoos, have previously been criticised for being vague and, in some places, unenforceable. We are drafting new, clearer standards, and amending the 1981 Act via the Bill to ensure that new standards must be followed.

The update to the standards, alongside our proposals to move conservation measures into the standards, should make the requirements placed on zoos clearer, and better enable local authorities to enforce those standards more effectively. The amendments will also increase maximum penalties for zoos not complying with the legislation, and modernise the appeals process for local authority licensing decisions in England.

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[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion). I know how committed she is to animal welfare, and she made some very good points, particularly on animal testing and zoos.

The Bill will make a real difference to the lives of animals across our country. It was, of course, Mahatma Gandhi who said that the moral progress of a nation and its greatness can be judged by how it treats its animals. Well, this nation has always been at the forefront of animal welfare, and this Government are taking that historic record to new heights.

I am proud to have played a positive role in promoting animal welfare during my time in Parliament. When we were in opposition I served as shadow Minister for animal welfare, and on Friday my own animal welfare bill, the Animals (Penalty Notices) Bill, will come before Parliament. It will introduce fines for mid-ranging animal welfare and health offences, preserving criminal prosecution for all cruelty offences. However, my work as a campaigner for animal welfare could never have been achieved without the support of an even more formidable campaigner—a man who should be here today, but who tragically is not; a man who epitomised goodness in every interaction he had, whether with something on two legs or four; my dear friend Sir David Amess, the honourable Member for Southend West, whose passing we mourn so much.

I must inform the House that the Westminster Dog of the Year contest will take place this Thursday. Along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), I have been asked—I have been given the honour—to enter Vivienne, the French bulldog of Sir David Amess, and we will be taking her to that contest. I know I should not lobby Members—[Laughter]—but they can vote online, on the Kennel Club’s website, to choose their Westminster dog of the year. I hope that friends and colleagues in all parts of the House will consider casting their votes for Vivienne, the dog of Sir David Amess, this Thursday.

There are three areas of the Bill that I want to discuss. The first is part 2, on dogs attacking or worrying livestock. I know that advocates of responsible dog ownership as well as our great farming industry will warmly welcome these proposals, as do I, but the enhanced provisions are likely to lead to more dogs being seized. Can the Minister reassure the House that provision will be made to ensure that all dogs seized under these measures will receive the highest standard of care and welfare?

Secondly, I want to discuss the new measures to help tackle the awful crime of puppy-smuggling, particularly the provisions that will allow for bans on the importation of mutilated animals. Anyone with an interest in animal welfare cannot have failed to notice the fantastic “flop not crop” campaign supported by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the British Veterinary Association, Battersea, the FOAL Group—Focus on Animal Law—Blue Cross, Dogs Trust and many other organisations. Can the Minister confirm that clause 46(2) will include dogs with cropped ears, to guarantee an end to that barbaric practice?

Thirdly, I want to turn to matters relating directly to Britain’s magnificent zoos and aquariums. I do so as chairman of the zoos and aquariums all-party parliamentary group, and having only just received a “Zoo Hero” award from the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which I accepted with great pride at Marwell zoo a few weeks ago. I am endlessly impressed with the sheer diversity and breadth of the conservation work that good zoos and aquariums undertake throughout the United Kingdom. Probably the first thing we must think of in that context is their notable work on animal reintroductions—that critical work to bolster fragile wild populations. Indeed, I have seen just recently how Marwell zoo has successfully reintroduced desert antelopes into north Africa. However, while that is important, zoo and aquarium conservation work extends far beyond reintroductions. For example, I was privileged last year to visit Whipsnade Zoo—

[Andrew Selous]

Hear, hear.

[Andrew Rosindell]

My hon. Friend knows that zoo all too well. When I went there, I was able to see for myself how a “mammoth” bank of 30,000 thermal images taken of UK zoo elephants is directly contributing to conserving their wild counterparts. This groundbreaking work, completely dependent on zoo-based research, has led to an affordable technology solution to reduce human-elephant conflicts in a range of countries.

As well as engaging in all those unique conservation efforts, our zoos and aquariums up and down the country are bringing millions of visitors—more than 35 million each year—closer to nature. Most of those people would not be able to travel thousands of miles to see these incredible creatures in their home territories.

It is right that this Bill will push many more zoos to scale up their conservation efforts, but that must be done with diversity in mind. We must avoid falling into the trap of considering conservation only in terms of the amount spent or the number of introductions made—measures that only skim the surface of conservation. As conservation will be defined in the secondary legislation for which the Bill provides, it is important for that to be done in a way that truly captures the enormous diversity of the work of our zoos and aquariums. Will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State therefore make a commitment that as we raise our expectations on zoo conservation, the definition will include the full range of activities that those zoos and aquariums offer?

That, however, is not the only assurance that we need. Inherent in the Bill is the work of the Zoos Expert Committee, which will advise the Secretary of State and the Minister on the future of zoo-based conservation. However, that Committee cannot make its options known to the public or to Parliament. Why, when the Government are proposing a new animal sentience committee with the ability to publish independent recommendations, is that same ability not being afforded to the Government’s Committee on zoos? Will the Secretary of State consider that, please?

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[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

All five measures in the Bill are important to our constituents. I am proud to support them tonight, and to vote enthusiastically for this important Bill. As every hon. Member has said, we are a nation of animal lovers. I am a dog owner and I have been reflecting on how much dogs can teach us human beings about love and loyalty. We can learn a great deal from them.

Let me go through the measures in the Bill. We have heard a lot about primates. It is right that those magnificent animals should be cared for only in environments where their complex social and welfare needs can be properly attended to. It was many years ago that David Attenborough showed us on television how wonderful those creatures are. The measures in the Bill are absolutely right.

We know how many more dogs have come into the country, particularly during the pandemic, and about the imbalance between supply and demand. I am pleased that measures in the Bill deal with puppy smuggling by limiting the number of dogs coming into the country, not allowing pregnant dogs in, and taking a stand on ear cropping and tail docking by banning them. My hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Dr Hudson) made the important point that on films and on television, we must not show dogs whose tails have been docked and ears have been cropped in any way other than to expose it. I am grateful to him for that.

The issue that my constituents have raised most frequently is probably that of live animal exports. It is fantastic that the Bill will ban that for slaughter and fattening, that it will apply to cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and equines, and that it will apply to journeys beginning in and transiting through Great Britain. That is necessary and important, and something we can do now we are outside the European Union.

Livestock worrying is of particular concern to me, as I have a partly rural constituency. I have been contacted by some of my farmers, who are in enormous distress about the issue. It is not just the significant number of sheep they lose or the loss of income that that represents; it is the huge emotional distress for farmers who love their animals. It is not just a financial crime; it is something that we should not put any farmer through. That is why I am so pleased that we will expand the police’s powers. As was said earlier, however, education for dog owners is really important. No dog should be put down unnecessarily; it should only be a last resort.

I had a worrying conversation with one of my sheep farmers recently, who reported a dog that had attacked some of his sheep to 999, and was initially told that it was not a police matter. I was concerned about that, so I am pleased that the new police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire, Festus Akinbusoye, has been educating our call centre about the impact of rural crime. I hope that happens across the country, because no farmer should be told that it is not a police matter.

[Dr Hudson]

On the point about widening the scope of the measures in this Bill or another Bill, we have talked about pet theft, and my hon. Friend is talking about rural crime. I hope that the Government move forward with legislation on pet theft and strongly consider expanding it to include other animals, such as farm livestock and horses. Those animals are, sadly, increasingly being stolen.

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[Andrew Selous]

I will always defer to my hon. Friend’s knowledge and experience in such matters. He is absolutely right. I remember an older lady coming to see me in my constituency a few years ago whose small dog had been stolen. It struck me that that was akin to a member of her family having been kidnapped—the removal of a child or grandchild—she was so devastated. We need laws to reflect the gravity of that. My hon. Friend is right that that should apply not just to pets, because the theft of any animal is a serious matter.

Whipsnade zoo is in my constituency. I am delighted that four or five other Members have talked about it, such is its reputation. There are about 400 zoos in this country but I would say, with justification, that Whipsnade is at the pinnacle of global conservation work. I am delighted that we heard from my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen), about the fantastic work that Whipsnade is already doing with its freshwater aquarium. She told us that it has more extinct-in-the-wild and threatened species than any other aquarium in the world.

We heard about Whipsnade’s fantastic work to deal with elephant-human conflict, and the 30,000 thermal images that have been taken to support that work around the world, so that elephants and humans can live together without anything bad happening to the elephants. Whipsnade also hosts 50,000 schoolchildren every year, who leave inspired to do more for conservation. In addition, Whipsnade has reintroduced tigers to Nepal, Kenya and Indonesia; it has introduced rhinos back into the wild in Nepal and Kenya; and it has done work to restore the coral reefs in the Philippines. Closer to home, Whipsnade has been involved in getting angel sharks back on the coast of Wales, and even closer to home, Whipsnade has helped get eels back in the Thames, just outside where we are tonight.

I had the opportunity to speak to my hon. Friend the Bill Minister—the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury (Victoria Prentis)—about this conservation work at breakfast this morning. I think the Government get it, and are complete supporters of this fantastic conservation work. I do not believe the Bill is a threat to that work, and I think she will reassure us. I would be failing in my constituency duty if I did not express those concerns, but I do think that we are in good hands with a Bill team such as this one.