Dog Meat Trade

Debate between Steve Reed and Mims Davies

Thursday 5th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[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.

[Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)]

I declare an interest, in that I am a dog owner, admirer and lover. Of course we have recently seen the wonderful pets in Parliament. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should hope and expect that British Ministers and diplomats will continue to make the case when working on our behalf in the countries that continue with these practices that they are not appropriate in our view? Does he agree that that could bring about the change we seek?

[Mr Reed]

The hon. Lady makes a very sensible point. There has been some of this communication in bilateral discussions with other countries, but it could certainly go further. I hope we will hear that response from the Minister in his summing up.

I was talking about family pets. Families are understandably grief-stricken when they lose a pet, but to fear or know that their pet has been stolen by animal traffickers who then subject it to sickening levels of cruelty and abuse only makes the grief all the harder to bear. Stolen animals are often crammed into crates where many suffer broken bones. They are transported for days in shocking conditions, with many dying of dehydration or suffocation. On arrival at their destination, most dogs are then taken to slaughterhouses that have not been approved or monitored by local authorities. In horrific conditions they are butchered, often in full sight of other dogs, which are terrified by what they see.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South mentioned, there is a belief in some places where dogs are eaten that a terrified dog produces tastier meat, so some animals are skinned alive, thrown still living into boiling water or hung by the neck to induce terror. The scale of suffering is hard to imagine. One of the most notorious dog-eating events is the annual Yulin dog meat festival, which has been the subject of a worldwide campaign to close it down. An estimated 10,000 dogs are slaughtered and eaten at this event. The treatment of dogs at the event is horrific and it is on a massive scale.

AnimalsAsia highlights the fact that existing animal protection laws are not enforced in some countries—in some cases, we are talking about bans on the sale, transportation and slaughter of dogs for meat. It further highlights the fact that misinformation, abuse and illegality is rife at almost every stage of the industry supply chain. There is an overwhelming need for the stronger enforcement of such laws, and again it is entirely legitimate for the UK Government to raise such issues in bilateral meetings, as they have already done with China, the Philippines and South Korea.