Dog Meat Trade

Debate between Steve McCabe and Steve Reed

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Steve Reed (Croydon North) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) on securing this debate. I want to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) for the work on this issue that he has led for a long time. I am delighted that he has been able to hotfoot it back to the Chamber for the debate following a visit to Croydon North.

I am sure that both my hon. Friends would agree that the cruel and barbaric treatment of dogs and cats for food in a small number of countries is a stain on humanity and a threat to human health that needs to be stopped. The majority of the British public consider themselves to be animal lovers, and they are strongly opposed to cruelty to cats, dogs and other animals. I am sure that they would welcome the fact that this debate is being held today.

There are commercial and cultural reasons why dogs are eaten. In some countries, dog meat is wrongly believed to have medicinal properties. For instance, it is believed to help in the treatment of impotence and poor circulation. However, there is no evidence to support any of these claims and there need to be stronger public information campaigns in those countries to educate populations to understand the facts. Consumption of dog and cat meat is also linked to human health and disease. The consumption of these animals is linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera and the spread of rabies, in part because of the appalling conditions in which the animals are transported. Perhaps the most offensive aspect of the dog meat trade is the way in which the animals are treated. A huge proportion are family pets that are stolen, transported in inhumane conditions and slaughtered without any regard whatever for the level of suffering being inflicted on them.

I agree with Members who have said that it is not for people from one meat-eating culture to tell people of other cultures which animals they can or cannot eat, but there is a role to be played in seeking to secure global standards of animal welfare and in working with local campaign groups on the ground in the countries affected to help them strengthen their own cases. AnimalsAsia has conducted a detailed investigation into the dog meat trade, finding that the vast majority of dog meat in China comes from stolen dogs previously owned as pets. It found no conclusive evidence of large-scale breeding farms that could have been capable of supplying the up to 20 million dogs which it is estimated are eaten across China every year. Anyone who has ever owned a pet cat or dog knows how much they become part of the family, being loved, cared for and cherished.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

I agree with my hon. Friend that it is probably not appropriate to think we can tell other countries what to do, but is it not reasonable to tell them what the reaction of the British public will be if the sorts of things they are doing, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Robert Flello) referred, become public knowledge?

[Mr Reed]

My hon. Friend makes a pertinent point, and I agree with him. There is certainly a case for consumer power in those countries influencing those countries, but the key is to persuade them of the need to change. Indeed, there are campaigns on the ground in those countries which we can support.