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 protect cats and kittens from exploitation by regulating cat breeding.

The Animal Welfare Strategy was published on 22 December 2025 and sets out thepriorities for animal welfare for England. It is a comprehensive set of reforms which will improve the lives of millions of animals.

As set out in the strategy, the Government’s priority is to improve compliance with the existing rules and to work collaboratively with stakeholders to further our understanding of the cat breeding sector and help to drive up standards. This will inform whether any further action is needed in the future to improve welfare practices in the cat breeding sector.

Anyone in the business of selling cats and kittens as pets should already have a pet selling licence and must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.