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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many times the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 have been applied each of the last two years.

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 ban the commercial third-party sale of puppies and kittens in England. This amendment, also known as Lucy's Law, came into force in April 2020. Any cases of pet dealers attempting to circumvent the ban on third-party sales should be reported to the relevant local authorities, as enforcers of the legislation. Defra does not hold the data for the application of Lucy’s Law by local authorities.

Defra recognises that raising awareness of deceitful sellers is another integral step towards tackling low-welfare and illegal supply of puppies. That is why we launched the communications campaign "Petfished" in March 2020 to raise the public's awareness of the consequences of buying from a low-welfare seller and challenging the assumption that it is easy to spot bad practice. The campaign also signposts to resources available to help people make good decisions and source from responsible breeders or rehoming centres in the UK.