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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent the breeding of animals that are genetically predisposed to (a) Brachycephaly and (b) other deformative conditions.

The law on the breeding and sale of dogs, and the breeding and sale of rabbits and cats as pets, who can suffer from brachycephaly was updated and improved in 2018. Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters of dogs in a twelve-month period, as well as anyone in the business of breeding and selling rabbits or cats as pets, needs to hold a valid licence issued by their local authority.

Licencees must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences, and are prohibited from breeding from dogs if it can be reasonably expected that this would lead to health or welfare problems for the mother or her puppies.

Defra is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the 2018 Regulations which will consider whether the regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope for further improvements. The review will be published soon.