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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of illegal puppy farming.

This Government takes the issue of low-welfare and illegal supply of puppies very seriously. Significant steps have already been taken to improve and update the laws on dog breeding in England to crack down on unscrupulous breeders who breed dogs purely for financial greed at the expense of animal welfare.

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 in a 12-month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards, including provisions to protect dogs from being bred from too often or at an early age, which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing legislation in this area, and records of their enforcement activity are not centrally collated.

The 2018 Regulations are due to be reviewed five years after they came into force (2023) and so this will be an appropriate time to re-examine the standards, the associated guidance and consider any changes.  As part of planning for this review, we are proactively working with partners, including local authorities, to collate data that can provide a picture of licensed and unlicensed activities involving animals in England, including dog breeding. We will be working with partners, including local authorities and stakeholder sector groups, while we undertake this review.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, local authorities, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the police all have powers to investigate allegations of animal cruelty or poor welfare (including power of entry to inspect premises). Both licensed and unlicensed animal breeders are required under the 2006 Act to protect the animals involved in breeding from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.

In addition to welfare concerns applying to new pet owners being provided with pets from illegal domestic puppy farms, welfare concerns also arise in relation to imported pets. The "Action Plan for Animal Welfare" includes a commitment to address this issue and end the abhorrent, cruel practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports.

APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the pet travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was reintroduced following the Queen's speech and will progress to Report stage in the Commons as soon as Parliamentary time allows. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.