Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

Debate between Roger Gale and Maria Eagle

2nd reading
Friday 15th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

Order. Before the right hon. Lady intervenes and the hon. Lady goes further down this route, let me say that I have a personal, passionate interest this subject. I am paying great attention to what the hon. Lady is saying, and she has rather moved away from the context of the Bill.

[Maria Eagle]

Does my hon. Friend agree that many XL Bully dogs are imported illegally? That is one of the reasons why what she is saying is in order. I hope you agree, Mr Deputy Speaker.

[Seema Malhotra]

My right hon. Friend is correct, and it is important that these issues are considered more widely.

Illegal breeding means that we cannot be sure about the safety of pets that people may purchase in good faith, and there will be challenges with how they have been bred and looked after. You may be aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, that we have much by way of illegal, backstreet breeders, and that is not just in the UK. There ought to be more regulation of breeding. Backstreet breeders in this country can breed three litters a year without a licence, so could end up with 30 pups a year being sold at £5,000 each, with those dogs reared to be aggressive. In fact, in the light of the recent ban, how it is being reviewed and how it is being enforced, other, more aggressive dog breeds are being bred through backstreet breeders.

My constituents have raised some concerns on what we know about pets and where they may have come from. They have also raised the devastating impact of having a pet—a member of the family—at risk of being put down. I have had constituents in tears who say they have come under the scope of the legislation and can no longer transport their dog in their car if they are driving alone, and they live alone with their dog.

Business without Debate

Debate between Roger Gale and Maria Eagle

Friday 3rd February 2023 Commons Chamber

[Maria Eagle (Garston and Halewood) (Lab)]

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. We have seen five Bills proceed today. The Public Advocate (No. 2) Bill has been introduced repeatedly to Parliament since 2015, and today’s objection from the Government is their 12th in the last two years, despite a proposal for a public advocate being in their own 2017 manifesto. With Bishop James Jones’s 2017 report on the lessons to be learned from Hillsborough and its proposals for legislative change yet even to receive a Government response, can you please advise me on how I can convince my constituents, the families of the 97 unlawfully killed and survivors of that terrible day at Hillsborough that our Government care about righting the terrible wrongs that they have suffered over the last 34 years and ensuring that the lessons of that terrible day are truly learned?

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

The whole House has enormous sympathy with those who suffered at Hillsborough, but the hon. Lady has been here long enough to know that she cannot use this process or a point of order to prolong the debate here today. It is not a matter for the Chair. If she wishes to pursue the matter further, she may wish to raise it with Mr Speaker, who I am sure will listen sympathetically. The Minister is indeed in his place, but he is not in a position to prolong the debate, either. I simply cannot permit it. That does not mean that the House does not have sympathy with her cause.