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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2016 to Question 56069, what plans the Government has to remove the exemption from licensing requirements of people repeatedly selling kittens bred from their non-pedigree pet cat, currently in place under the provisions of the Pet Animals Act 1951, within new regulations governing the sale of pet animals made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

As part of the review of animal establishment licensing schemes, the Government is proposing to remove the licence exemptions in the Pet Animals Act 1951. These exemptions are for those in the business of selling either pedigree animals that have been bred by them or the offspring of an animal that has been kept by them as a pet, for instance, the offspring of their non-pedigree pet cat. We will be publishing our ‘Next Steps’ document on the proposals shortly.