The Government response to the previous EFRA Committee's
report on pet welfare and abuse has been published today.
The report, which made recommendations on the unscrupulous
breeding and importation of pets, their ownership and welfare,
and abuse and mutilation, was the conclusion of work carried out
by previous members of the EFRA Committee during the last
Parliament.
In its report, the predecessor committee urged the Government to
make it a priority to introduce legislation to reform the
Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 and to include regulation of canine
fertility clinics, which MPs found have increased in number from
under 40 in 2020, to over 400 in 2023.
While Defra's response states that it ‘continues to explore
opportunities for legislative and non-legislative change that can
help ensure that acts of veterinary surgery remain appropriately
regulated', it goes on to say that ‘a new Veterinary Surgeons Act
is a significant undertaking' and that ‘Parliamentary time has
not yet been set aside for a new Act.'
Amongst other recommendations made in its report, the Committee
had called for a list of licensed breeders to be made public, and
a change in the licensing regulations so as to include breeders
of two or more litters a year, in order to counter low welfare
breeding practices and provide assurance to buyers.
The Department's response states that the ‘recommendation to
reduce the litter threshold… may result in unintended
consequences' and says ‘we would want to carefully consider
whether…small-scale home-based breeders…would leave the sector
rather than join the licensing regime.'
The Government's response affirms its commitment to ending puppy
smuggling and states its support for Dr Danny Chambers' Private
Members' Bill on Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and
Ferrets).
The Committee's report
in April made a number of other recommendations intended to
address a range of issues affecting pet welfare. The full
response from the Government to the predecessor committee's
report can be found here.
