Animal Welfare: Cats and Dogs

Lord Black of Brentwood Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Black of Brentwood]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to improve the welfare of cats and dogs in the United Kingdom.

[Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)]

My Lords, I am privileged to open this debate and indebted to all noble Lords, both mischievous and not mischievous, who are taking part. I am extremely pleased to see my noble friend Lord De Mauley on the Front Bench. Since his appointment at Defra, he has proved to be a redoubtable champion of our feline and canine friends and I look forward greatly to his response.

According to the Library, this House has not held a debate on the welfare of cats and dogs for over 20 years. It is good to have the chance to put this glaring omission right. I declare my interest as a cat owner. The indomitable Victoria is at home—with her sister Alexandra there in spirit—making sure I am on message. She will, no doubt, keep me up all night if I stray.

This is not a peripheral policy issue. It is estimated that 13 million households—45% of the total—have at least one pet, including between them over 17 million cats and dogs. The vast majority of owners are responsible families who love their pets and want to see all pets treated with the same affection. We are a nation of animal lovers and are all the better for it—as President Lincoln, who is much on our minds this week, nobly put it:

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being”.

Faithful cats and dogs, which are present throughout life’s journey—from the time children are taught to care for animals, to the companionship that pets give those in their final days—are the key to that “whole human being” and their role is growing in importance. More people live alone and live longer, often in isolation. Family structures are changing and, for many, pets fill the gap. They contribute to good health, reduce blood pressure, and teach the young about the values of a civilised society. They are central to the lives of many families. That is why this debate is important.

Today we face a crisis in animal welfare, as charities struggle to cope with a tide of unwanted pets, or pets that families can no longer afford to keep. Blue Cross has reported a 40% increase in abandoned pets since 2010, while the Cats Protection helpline receives four calls asking them to take a cat in for every one seeking adoption. The reason is simple: there are too many pets, and not enough good homes where families understand a pet’s welfare needs and can afford the cost of looking after them. Policy needs to change and I want to highlight four areas—breeding and sale, microchipping, companion animals and anti-social behaviour—where we can take action to improve the welfare of those who give their love unconditionally.

I will deal first with breeding and sale. Seven years ago, the Animal Welfare Act was put on the statute book. It was landmark legislation, and I pay tribute to the Labour Government who put it there. However, the legislation has not fulfilled its ambitions because many of the regulations promised under the Act have never materialised. One key example is the Pet Animals Act 1951, which protects the welfare of cats and dogs sold as pets. It became law when people bought animals from a pet shop. However, more than 60 years on people now buy pets online, which has created a whole range of problems with back-street breeders churning out kittens and puppies in an unregulated way. Too many loving pets are subjected to repeated breeding for sale online. There is some protection for dogs under the Breeding and Sale of Dogs (Welfare) Act, although this needs amending to reduce the number of legal litters from five to two, but there is no equivalent protection for cats, which often get overlooked in legislation.

I welcome the Government's support for the Pet Advertising Advisory Group which aims to make online pet ads more responsible. The noble Lord, Lord De Mauley, has played an important role in that, but it is only a start. The promised regulations under the Animal Welfare Act need to be brought forward; there needs to be a review of “hobby breeders” of kittens and puppies; and the work of animal charities in encouraging neutering needs support. When you consider that one unneutered female cat can be responsible for 20,000 descendants in just five years, you understand how central this issue is. The role of animal charities is vital here but a government-backed national neutering day might be an admirable way to support their tremendous work.

Secondly, microchipping is critical to the welfare of animals because it allows strays to be reunited with their owners. At present only 33% of dogs and a woeful 10% of cats arriving at Battersea are chipped. Cats Protection had to chip 86% of the cats it re-homed last year. This causes huge pressure on charities, which often have to re-home strays unnecessarily. It is good news that microchipping is to be compulsory for all dogs in England from 2016. However, what about the cats? Arguably it is even more important for them as so many of them roam freely and are out at night. Without making microchipping of cats compulsory, Defra could strengthen advice under the cat code, and if breeding was more tightly regulated, as I suggested, breeders could be obliged to microchip kittens before sale.

The third issue is companion animals, which I raised in Committee on the Care Bill, when I pointed out the huge role that cats and dogs play in the care of the elderly and the sick. My noble friend Lord Howe was encouraging in his response at that time and I hope the Government will ensure that guidance on the implementation of the legislation makes it crystal clear that the needs of individuals’ beloved pets, and the wishes of those individuals—who may often be very vulnerable or old—to keep them if taken into a care home, are included in individual care assessments.

Finally, I turn to anti-social behaviour and attacks by dogs on vulnerable, often elderly, cats. I know and hear of far too many distressing incidents where cats are set upon and killed by dogs. Cats Protection has logged 88 reported attacks this year so far, 89% of them fatal. These incidents—I was going to read out some of them but they are actually too distressing—can have a devastating impact on the lives of those who see a beloved cat killed in this way. The noble Lord, Lord Trees, set out the issue extremely well in his speech at Second Reading of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill and I endorse everything he had to say. I ask the Government to reconsider whether bespoke dog control notices to prevent attacks on protected animals are needed under the legislation, and to look at guidance to be issued under the Bill to ensure such appalling attacks are prevented.

These are the most crucial policy areas that need tackling and there are others I do not have time to address, including the important issue of updating the licensing regime for catteries and kennels and the role of animal welfare in the national primary curriculum. I know the Minister appreciates the breadth of these issues and I am delighted that Defra has established a canine and feline steering group to co-ordinate activity. Could the Minister ask that group to review the way existing legislation and regulation is working and to identify areas where out-of-date legislation needs overhauling or new regulations need bringing forward? Might it also be tasked with considering how future legislation impacts on the welfare of cats and dogs before it is brought to this House?

No speech on this subject could be complete without mentioning the charities that do so much in this area: Cats Protection, whose wonderful work I have seen at first hand; the Dogs Trust; Battersea; Wood Green; the Blue Cross; and the RSPCA. Their often life-saving work in looking after, neutering, microchipping and re-homing abandoned pets, as well as their educative work in schools, is beyond price. Much of that work— fundraising, fostering and running adoption centres—is volunteer-based. I pay tribute to everything volunteers and professional staff do to care for tens of thousands of defenceless and vulnerable animals. They are a crucial part of a civilised society and we applaud their dedication and commitment.

This is a subject about which I feel passionately. I have always believed that it is the priceless role of this House to give a voice to the voiceless, and what better example is there than to give a voice to our friends in the animal kingdom who have perhaps been cruelly treated, or abandoned, and in need of a caring home? For those of us lucky enough to live with a cat or a dog, their unconditional love becomes one of the most precious things in our lives. I have always sought to return that, but I want to ensure that all cats and dogs are as loved as those my partner and I have been privileged to share our lives with. This debate is a wonderful way to do just that, and I look forward greatly to hearing the contributions ahead.