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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to regulate the online sale of pets.

This Government takes the issue of low-welfare and illegal supply of pets very seriously. My department supports the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) which was created to combat growing concerns about the irresponsible online advertising of pets for sale, rehoming and exchange. We have backed the set of Minimum Standards that PAAG developed which many of the UK's largest classified websites have agreed to meet. Illegitimate sellers remaining anonymous by using online platforms is an issue for pet theft as well, as stolen dogs can be sold to unsuspecting buyers through untraceable adverts. The Government’s Pet Theft Taskforce recommended that we encourage sales platforms to implement more identity checks to improve the traceability of sellers, and to encourage the use of cashless transactions. Defra will continue to work with PAAG to ensure that pet theft is a core consideration for improvements to sales platforms.

Meanwhile my department maintains a national communications campaign (Petfished) to raise awareness of issues associated with low-welfare and illegal supply of pets. This includes providing clear signposting on where responsible breeders and rehoming centres can be found and encouraging prospective buyers to research the seller thoroughly before they visit and decide to purchase. The campaign provides a list of red flags for buyers to look out for when searching for a pet online. More information can be found here: https://getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk/

Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 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. Licencees 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. Any licensee advertising dogs for sale will need to include their licence number in the advert and specify the local authority who issued the licence. Additional requirements placed on advertisements include that the age of the dog for sale must be displayed along with a recognisable photograph.