Senior figures in the animal welfare sector have urged new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his recently-appointed cabinet to ensure the fledgling Kept Animals Bill is given Parliamentary time as soon as possible.
Ahead of the 2019 General Election, the Conservative Party manifesto included a number of pledges regarding animal welfare. The Kept Animals Bill was drawn up to meet these pledges by banning the live transport of animals, placing restrictions on the keeping of primates as pets and ending the importation of puppies with cropped ears, as well as other measures such as dealing with pet theft and livestock worrying. However, despite being introduced as proposed legislation in June 2021, the Bill has seen no action in Parliament since reaching the Committee stage in November last year.
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has written to Thérèse Coffey, the new Secretary of State at government department Defra, urging her to restart progress of the Bill through Parliament.
BVA president Malcolm Morley said: “This vital Bill will address some of the most pressing animal health and welfare issues of our times. With this in mind, it is essential that it continues to include vital measures, such as those designed to tackle puppy smuggling, prohibit the import of dogs with cropped ears, review zoo standards, impose a ban on keeping primates as pets and introduce mandatory, reliable pre-import testing for dogs with unknown health statuses.
“We are urging the Government not to let this important piece of legislation slip through the net. The Bill is a golden opportunity to improve the health and welfare of billions of animals and it must continue its passage into law.”
The RSPCA believes that the legislation could be on the verge of collapse without renewed impetus from the new Prime Minister.
Emma Slawinski, RSPCA director of policy, said: “As the new Prime Minister pledges to dust off the Conservative Party manifesto of 2019, we’d urge him to start by reviving the missing-in-action Kept Animals Bill, and avoid any risk of trampling on this country’s animal welfare legacy.
“This Bill has the potential to do so much for animals, and it is heartbreaking to speculate that all the progress made in bringing it forward could be lost if UK Government inaction continues. Rishi Sunak now has the perfect chance to address that head-on and rescue it.”
The call comes after Henry Dimbleby, non-executive board member at Defra and co-founder of Leon restaurants, urged the government not to let animal welfare standards fall in a “bonfire of red tape”, while delivering the inaugural RSPCA Wilberforce lecture last week (October 19).
He said: “This law has been in the making for literally decades.
“The cruel and unnecessary practice of live animal transport was rightly a manifesto commitment for this government and it is one they must not renege on.
“We have a global reputation on animal welfare that has been hard earned, it would be madness to trash it.”
