Domestic Animals: Welfare

Lord Black of Brentwood Excerpts

Thursday 10th May 2018 Grand Committee

Asked by

[Lord Black of Brentwood]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to promote and improve the welfare of domestic animals.

[Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)]

My Lords, I first sincerely apologise for addressing your Lordships from a sedentary position. I took a tumble down a slope on Monday and have broken my ankle, which is now strapped into a boot for the next six weeks. My consultant was not pleased when I told him that I had one appointment this week that I simply would not cancel, and that was our debate today on an issue dear to my heart. I was particularly anxious not to let down noble Lords who had signed up to speak, and I am most grateful to them all for taking part.

It was back in 2013 that I first had the privilege to lead a debate on the welfare of our domestic animals, and my noble friend Lord De Mauley responded, setting out the then coalition Government’s plans. I am delighted that he is speaking again today. That debate was the first time, so far as the House of Lords Library could tell, that our House had ever debated the topic. Back then it was perhaps rather an esoteric subject, and certainly on the fringes of public policy. What a difference five years can make. The welfare of our pets, and animal welfare more widely, is now a central political issue and one where there is commendable cross-party support, as indeed there should be on an issue such as this.

Defra—and, I have no doubt, my noble friend the Minister, who is such an energetic and eloquent champion of animal welfare—has been crucial in this: a dynamo of policy announcements and initiatives. I commend in particular the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, who has done so much to make this a mainstream issue and a big priority for the Government and Parliament. New animal activities licensing regulations will come into force in October; new welfare codes of practice for cats, dogs and horses have just been published; there has been a consultation on third-party sales of puppies and kittens, which is still a cause of considerable concern; and, at the end of last year, the Secretary of State announced the welcome publication of a draft animal welfare Bill, which will increase the maximum penalty for the most serious animal welfare offences under the Animal Welfare Act from six months’ imprisonment to five years’. Central to the Bill are the welfare needs of “animals as sentient beings”. That legislation will be enormously important in drawing together the threads of policy in this area and will make a real difference to domestic animals and the amazing charities that care for them. I hope legislative time will be found for it soon, although I know how difficult that is. I wonder whether my noble friend, who I know will be deploying his legendary and persuasive charm on the business managers, can give us any clues as to when it might be introduced.

In the cross-party spirit I just mentioned, I welcome the animal welfare plan that the Labour Party launched earlier this year and which is, I understand, still out for consultation. One of the issues it highlights is the compulsory microchipping of cats, which I strongly support because it is so important for owners and their animals. I would be grateful if my noble friend could give us his view of the case for the compulsory microchipping of cats as part of promoting responsible pet ownership.

A huge amount has been achieved and a great deal learned from a number of consultations, but challenges remain and it is right that we highlight and confront them. A primary issue is the prevention of both cruelty and poor welfare—different sides of the same coin. There should be no remorse for those who deliberately attack animals with a view to either killing them or causing them intolerable pain.

Increased penalties will help, of course, but there is more that we can do. In Oral Questions recently I highlighted the issue of air guns and the growing problem of people using these weapons to shoot animals, cats in particular. In 2017, the RSPCA received 884 calls to its 24-hour cruelty hotline, reporting air weapon attacks on animals, many of which resulted in either terrible pain for the animal concerned or often death. The public simply will not tolerate this. Just yesterday, a petition organised by Cats Protection with 110,000 signatures was delivered to Downing Street, calling for the licensing of air guns in England and Wales. The Government are consulting on this area and perhaps my noble friend could inform us when we might see a response and whether he would kindly specifically draw to the attention of the Home Office the urgent animal welfare issues that this raises.

The poor or inadequate welfare of animals is just another aspect of cruelty and neglect. Here again, we face real challenges in promoting the needs of animals. Last year, a PDSA report underlined the scale of the problem. It found that 93,000 dogs are never walked at all; almost 1.8 million dogs are left at home for five hours or more on a typical weekday; around 40% of cats are overweight or obese because of poor diet; and 3.6 million cats have not had a primary vaccination course when young. That is not acceptable and we clearly need a new approach to public education and awareness about the needs of animals. Part of that involves educating young people. Next time there is a review of the national curriculum, Defra should lead the way in ensuring that it covers animal welfare, as the EFRA Select Committee recommended. Perhaps my noble friend could store that one away at the back of his mind for when the time comes.

We also need a more strategic approach to educating the public about animal welfare needs. Crucially, the new statutory codes will be of real value only if people know about them. That means an approach which involves the animal welfare charities, pet industry representatives, local government—which bears so much of the brunt of this—the enforcement agencies, veterinary professionals, healthcare professionals, housing providers and teachers. Such an approach, drawing together so many of the very welcome public policy developments, which have happened under all parties in the 12 years since the Animal Welfare Act 2006, could really be the motor that makes these new policies, codes and regulations work in practice for the benefit of all our domestic animals.

Another aspect of cruelty that I should like to mention—again I have raised it at Oral Questions with an extremely helpful and positive response from my noble friend—is the growing problem of the breeding of cats and dogs with extreme characteristics, including flat-faced or brachycephalic animals, such as French bulldogs, Boston terriers or extreme flat-faced Persian cats, or those bred to have short limbs, such as munchkin cats, or curled or folded ears like the Scottish fold cats. The result of this grotesque genetic modification, which takes place in a wholly unregulated way in the absence of an effective cat breeding regime, is that many of these poor animals often spend a life in intolerable pain, suffering, for instance, from early-onset arthritis or unable to breathe properly. It is in effect torture breeding of animals that are literally born to suffer.

The proper regulation of cat breeding, in the first instance through a Government-backed code of practice on cat breeding welfare, would help in many ways, because many of those buying such benighted animals do so simply because they are a fashion accessory and they have no idea of the suffering that is involved. This is one of the issues on which International Cat Care, of which I am a patron, has campaigned and is part of its excellent international declaration of responsibilities to cats, which has to date attracted over 20,000 signatures from across the world. Sadly, we do not have time today to look at the international dimensions of animal welfare, but will my noble friend always bear in mind that our responsibilities should not stop at our borders and look in particular at the terms of the international declaration?

I hope I have been able to highlight in that quick canter some of the significant challenges all of us who love our domestic animals, which bring joy to millions of homes across the country—in fact, probably half the population—still face. I look forward to hearing about other issues from noble Lords this afternoon.

In closing, I pay a heartfelt tribute to all those charities and their armies of fantastic, selfless volunteers, who do so much extraordinary work in this area: the Dogs Trust, Battersea, Blue Cross, Cats Protection, International Cat Care, Wood Green and the RSPCA. Their work helps to improve the quality of life of so many animals and is vital to the education of children and the public. Those charities, the people who work in them and the volunteers who support them are right at the heart of a civilised society. I know all of us here today applaud their dedication, commitment and shining humanity.