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 amendments to regulations under the Pet Animals Act 1951 to include a ban on the sale of kittens in pet shops.

Under the Pet Animals Act 1951 local authorities can already apply conditions to individual pet shop licences. This includes, for example, restricting the species that can be sold. The power to apply conditions to an individual licence is in section 1(3) of the 1951 Act and is intended to help secure the welfare requirements set out in that section. We are currently reviewing animal establishment licensing which will include looking at the 1951 Act.