Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill

Bill Wiggin Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 25th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Owen (Luton North) (Lab)]

From what we have heard this evening, there is no doubt that we are indeed a nation of animal lovers. I declare an interest as an animal lover—as many in the Chamber are—and as the owner of a dog called Herman. Anyone who has invited a border terrier into their home knows that they never fully own a border terrier; border terriers definitely own their humans.

I am sure nobody in the Chamber will disagree that animal welfare is one of the issues on which we receive the most messages and emails, and thousands of people in Luton North have written to me in the short time that I have been an MP. I want our country to have the highest animal welfare standards in the world. My constituents write to me about protecting bees, and about badgers, animal testing, caging, banning fur, and so much more. Young people in particular write to me worried about the state of the planet and every creature on it. How many of those creatures will have their habitats destroyed and become extinct before those young people are as old and cynical as us?

We have heard much about the Government’s commitment to animal welfare. Unfortunately, for many people, belief in that has been rocked. The Secretary of State mentioned the Government’s manifesto commitments and promises. One commitment was not to compromise on Britain’s high standards in trade deals, but recently we have seen a worrying trend with trade deals, and the risk of a race to the bottom on welfare standards. There was, as has been discussed, a manifesto promise to ban the keeping of primates as pets, but the Bill breaks that promise, too. Instead, people will be able to keep a primate as long as they can afford a licence. We are used to monkey business from the Government, but that is something else. All joking aside, if anyone can give me a valid reason why someone should be allowed to keep a primate as a pet, I will happily give way to them.

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

A zookeeper who had to look after their animals at home could be construed as having them as pets. That is why licensing and a case-by-case, “the individual must come first” basis is so much healthier than an outright ban. It is impossible to deal with different examples without having laws that can understand the difference. Does the hon. Lady not understand that?

[Sarah Owen]

I was going to thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but the tone was a little patronising, to say the least. I wholeheartedly disagree, given that any zookeeper who had to look after an animal in their home would be doing so through their work, and under the licence for that job. That was not a valid reason to keep a primate as a pet—it was not a pet.

The Government’s manifesto even promised the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth, yet we have the Prime Minister saying he is worried that COP26 will not be a success. Probably the less I say about the Government’s record on the environment at the moment, the better. We have a duty to protect the planet and the environment for all animals, kept and unkept.

I turn to something more positive and light-hearted. In the recent recess, I visited Whipsnade zoo with my family. It was the first time that I had taken my daughter to a zoo, and the magic in a child’s face when they see in real life an animal they had seen only in books and on the television is a real joy to behold. Whipsnade zoo is much loved by people in Luton North and across the region. During the covid restrictions, I received hundreds of emails from people asking me to campaign and ask the Government to allow zoos to reopen. People are right to be proud of Whipsnade zoo, not just for the happy memories that it provides but because of its proud history of sector-leading work on conservation.

Whipsnade’s freshwater aquarium is home to more threatened and extinct-in-the-wild species than any other in the world. Whipsnade provides significant insights that inform work to help reintroduce and conserve species in their natural habitats, including projects in Madagascar, Greece and Turkey. Its work with elephants directly contributes to protecting the species in the world. It is doing such important work.

Whipsnade zoo’s conservation work also encompasses young people. On-site teachers deliver engaging learning programmes in biology and conservation, inspiring tens of thousands of schoolchildren every year and instilling them with the wonder of and desire to protect wildlife. I will never forget when I saw all these schoolchildren at Whipsnade being hurried around to see the chimpanzees. I explained to my toddler that chimpanzees are not monkeys. Now she points at them and says, “Not monkeys.”

When Whipsnade zoo wrote to me to tell me of its concerns about the Bill, I had to voice them in the House. Removing the definition of conservation work from law and giving the Secretary of State the power to define conservation could easily undermine Whipsnade’s fantastic work and lead to an overly simplistic view of conservation—and, dare I say, a politicised one. We know that the Government have an uncanny ability to turn any old issue into a culture war. I ask them please not to do so with zoos.

I hope that in Committee we will work to protect the brilliant work of our zoos by leaving it to the experts and keeping the politics out of conservation. However, there is one place where politics and animals should meet: the Westminster dog of the year award. I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) in saying, “Please lend your vote to Sir David Amess’s dog, Vivienne.” Please, anyone who was willing or wanted to vote for Herman and me, do not do that—vote for Vivienne instead.

On the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones) about fireworks and dogs, and animals in general, I recently presented a Bill calling for tougher punishments for the misuse of fireworks and tougher enforcement of those measures. We know how much that misuse affects animals and animal owners across the country. I hope that there is scope for those measures in the Bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire) (Con)]

Despite its being heralded as a ban on keeping monkeys, I actually welcome part 1 of the Bill relating to primates and the keeping of them. Governments should not be banning things; there should be licensing. I apologise to the hon. Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen); I did not mean to come across as patronising, but I like the idea that the Government have the flexibility through legislation to take into consideration individual circumstances for higher creatures such as primates. There will never be a one-size-fits-all, so that is really sensible. It means that animal welfare is considered on a case-by-case basis rather than there being a well-intentioned but disastrous blanket ban. When it comes to animal welfare, we should respect the expertise of vets acting for local authorities in determining what is a safe and healthy environment for the animal. If someone wants to keep any animal, they should ensure that they can fulfil its needs. They owe that to their pet—they must take the responsibility.

I also welcome and am truly grateful for part 2 of the Bill, which relates to dogs attacking or worrying livestock. Sadly, that is a regular occurrence in my constituency and it is particularly awful when pregnant ewes are torn apart and lose their lambs. It is devastating for the sheep and farmer and is directly due to the dog owners.

[Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend share my view that such incidents are very distressing for farmers? It would be far better if livestock worrying were addressed largely through an improvement in the behaviour of dog owners rather than through an increase in destruction orders.

[Bill Wiggin]

Of course I agree with my right hon. Friend; I will come to that in a moment.

At the moment, a farmer has the right to shoot an out-of-control dog, but I have not yet met a farmer who wants to do that. Farmers love animals but sadly these sheep-worrying incidents occur far too often. Livestock are vulnerable and fairly defenceless. Dog walkers want extra access to the countryside; in return, as my right hon. Friend said, dog owners and dog walkers must be more considerate about how their dogs behave and ideally have them on a lead.

The estimated cost of dog attacks on farm animals in the first quarter of 2021 has risen by 50%. As we have already heard, the National Farmers Union estimated in 2020 that £1.3 million worth of animals were attacked by dogs—an increase of 10% on 2019. But when it comes down to it, the issue is not the monetary value of the animals attacked, but the completely unnecessary nature of the attacks and the fact that the dog owner could prevent them.

Research carried out on 1,200 dog owners revealed that 88% walk their dogs in the countryside. Some 64% said that they let their dogs run free off the lead, while 50% admitted that their pet did not always come back when called. We are trying to do what we can to stop livestock worrying, and part 2 of the Bill is entirely welcome.

[Neil Parish]

rose—

[Bill Wiggin]

I was about to talk about zoonotic diseases such as neosporosis, but I give way to my hon. Friend.

[Neil Parish]

The other problem is that dog owners think that their dogs are obedient, but when dogs get excited and see sheep, they are off—they are no longer obedient even if they normally are. When they are really excited by chasing a sheep, they will not come back. That is why they need to be kept on leads, for the sake of sheep especially.

[Bill Wiggin]

Keeping dogs on leads is particularly important with sheep. It is completely the opposite when there are cattle with calves in the field. The dog owner should let go of their lead and let the dog run away, because otherwise it is people who become the casualties. This is complicated, which is why the Countryside Code matters and why us rural MPs must take opportunities such as this to remind people that what they do with sheep, they do not do with cows.

Let me turn now to the banning of exports for slaughter. Supermarkets have a vice-like grip on the provision and price of meat. Our centralised supply chain is narrow, and I am not entirely happy with the introduction of this ban. The beneficiaries will be supermarkets, the Republic of Ireland, and uncastrated ram lambs. As I mentioned earlier, the Government should be in the business not of banning but of licensing. In that way, only the highest level of animal welfare would be allowed. Sadly, instead, these sheep will now go through Ireland and make the much longer journey to France and Spain.

Around 6,400 animals were transported from the UK directly to slaughter, according to Government figures in 2018. Now the country is facing a shortage of abattoirs, abattoir staff and carbon dioxide. We will need to see animals being sent abroad, and they will go as breeding stock. How long does a sheep have to live in France or Spain as breeding stock before the purchaser can decide to eat it without the UK farmer going to prison for up to six months? That is the sort of thing that I am hoping will come out in Committee.

What steps will the Government take to ensure that live animals are not transported through Northern Ireland to the Republic and then onto Spain? This legislation, while well-intentioned, is full of loopholes, which the unscrupulous traders will exploit. These are the same people who do not care about animal welfare. That is why licensing is much safer than allowing the unscrupulous to win through.

[Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)]

Just on that point about the use of Ireland as an access country, I refer my hon. Friend to clause 42(3), which does include the term “British Islands”. To my mind, that provides a safeguard and prevents that type of activity from occurring.

[Bill Wiggin]

I am grateful, as always, to my hon. Friend. I think that if he looks at the bit on the Northern Irish element in the explanatory notes, he will find that that is not in there for this particular element. I am sure that he will be on that Committee and sorting that out, which will be wonderful. None the less, it is important and it does matter.

In much the same way, the dog element in this Bill is important. A total of 843 illegal puppies were seized at the border last year. Again, it is always the unscrupulous who do not care that are ruining it for everybody else. I want to use this little moment in my speech to make this appeal to people: rather than spending huge amounts of money on a puppy, please think about rehoming before you buy your puppy. Just because it is rehoming does not mean that the buyer will get a pit bull with mental health issues—their dog could have come from a home exactly like their own where the owner has simply become too ill to look after their dog.

[Dr Luke Evans]

rose—

[Bill Wiggin]

The buyer might also find that their dog is house trained. On that note, it is entirely appropriate to give way to my hon. Friend.

[Dr Evans]

My hon. Friend’s point could be no more pertinent than at this moment in time given that, post lockdown, we are seeing a rise in animals being given away because owners cannot deal with them. We must get the message out that people looking for pets should please rehome these lockdown puppies.

[Bill Wiggin]

There is no better way of ruining the market for illegal puppies than simply getting them from the plentiful rehoming centres and charities. Finding the right home for our pets is a humane and worthy thing to do, so everyone should please look at this very carefully before they pay large sums of money.

I also urge the Government to look hard at dog theft and all the other animal-related crimes. We have read that they are going to treat such things in a very serious way and I encourage them to do so and I encourage them to iron out some of the minor hiccups in this piece of legislation and continue with the good work they are doing.