Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to address animal welfare concerns associated with the breeding of wildcat hybrids.

As part of the Animal Welfare Strategy, which was published on 22 December 2025, the Government will take steps to improve our understanding of the size, scale and current management practices related to cat breeding, drawing on expertise from the sector, and consider any further steps which may improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector.

The keeping of dangerous wild animals is regulated by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. Keepers of dangerous wild animals listed in the Schedule to the 1976 Act must get a Dangerous Wild Animals licence from their local authority. All cats are listed in the Schedule to the Act, although several species, such as the domestic cat, are exempted. Cat hybrids having a domestic cat, or other exempted species, as one parent and a non-exempted cat, such as a wildcat, as the other parent would require a Dangerous Wild Animals licence.