Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mike Amesbury
Main Page: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)Department Debates - View all Mike Amesbury's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Animal Welfare (Kept Animals)
Mike Amesbury Excerpts(10 months, 2 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Jim McMahon
I will give way first to my hon. Friend the Member for Weaver Vale.
Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)
My hon. Friend referred to Second Reading. The Dogs Trust tells me that, since Second Reading, it has been caring for 485 smuggled puppies. Does he agree that we could put a full stop to that by backing this motion today?
Jim McMahon
It is not only that. Animals are not an object or a possession; they are part of our family in many ways. Just think about those smuggled dogs being a member of your family—the dog that looks after your children and supports them growing up, or gives compassion to an older person. The idea that puppies have been smuggled in the numbers that just one charity reports—there are many charities in this space—says it all.
In the end, is it not the truth that the Government are running scared—not from the Opposition, although they should be, but from opposition from their own Back Benchers?