Asked by
of Ullock
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to introduce
legislation to ban the selling of attractions, activities or
experiences to tourists involving the unacceptable treatment of
animals.
The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
( of Richmond Park) (Con)
My Lords, as the Government set out in Our Action Plan for Animal
Welfare, we are committed to promoting high animal welfare
standards, both at home and abroad. We want to ensure that money
from tourists from this country is channelled towards animal
experiences abroad that practise the highest welfare and
conservation standards. The Government remain committed to
exploring available options in order to prohibit the advertising
and offering for sale here of such unacceptably low-welfare
activities involving wild animals.
of Ullock (Lab)
I thank the Minister for his response, but Save the Asian
Elephants has identified some 1,200 companies in the UK promoting
300 unethical elephant attractions overseas. Can the Minister say
exactly when the Government will keep their promise to ban the
sale of these experiences, which are based on appalling
cruelty?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the Government very much appreciate the work that that
organisation has done and share the view that numerous
attractions, many of them advertised here in the UK, involve
really appalling levels of cruelty. It is not just about cruelty
to animals; there have been human consequences as well—for
example, as the organisation has highlighted and as the noble
Baroness knows, the death of Andrea Taylor in 2000 at an
attraction in Thailand was linked to the abuse of the elephant in
question. The Government are committed to the principle behind
this measure, and that has not changed. We have not identified
the legislative route, but, with the noble Baroness’s help, I am
sure that we will.
(Con)
My Lords, when may we expect the kept animals Bill, which I hope
would include the kind of activities referred to by the noble
Baroness? Will it also include the prohibition of the import of
fur?
of Richmond Park (Con)
My Lords, the kept animals Bill is making its way through the
process. It is still in the other place; it will be coming here
shortly—I am afraid that I do not know the date, but there is no
reason to believe that things are held up. However, the scope of
the kept animals Bill would not include measures such as the one
we are debating today, nor would it involve restrictions on
imports. That would belong in a different legislative vehicle,
formerly known as the animals abroad Bill, which we debated in
Questions last week.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister in his opening remarks referred to
commitments to the highest standards at home as well as abroad.
What plans do the Government have to comprehensively ban the sale
of pets as prizes in England?
of Richmond Park (Con)
As the noble Baroness will know, in the kept animals Bill that we
were just talking about, there will be measures to prohibit the
keeping of primates as pets. That will, I think, be a first
within Europe, and it will be comprehensive legislation. Defra
has commissioned some work on the issue of pets being handed out
as prizes. I cannot give her a timeline on that, but it is an
issue that we are looking at very closely.
(Con)
My Lords, how do we help travel companies identify these tourist
attractions where animals are cruelly treated? I suspect some of
them are innocently selling these holidays without having any
realisation of the cruelty being inflicted on these animals.
of Richmond Park (Con)
It is an important point and in fact, to give it credit, the
Association of British Travel Agents—ABTA—has updated and
published guidelines on a whole range of activities which it
classes as unacceptable, and its definition is fairly closely
aligned with that of many of the organisations that focus on this
issue. It is a voluntary set of guidelines—what we are talking
about today is something that will be harder than that, something
mandatory—but it is worth acknowledging the steps that the
industry is already taking.
(Lab)
My Lords, why are the Government so poor at managing their
legislation programme? Every week, Ministers come forward and say
that they are committed to something but they have not got a
timeline for it. Is it not about time the Government got their
act together and sorted out their legislation programme?
of Richmond Park (Con)
This is a question that goes way beyond my own pay grade. All I
can tell the noble Lord is that I am working very hard to bring
the full range of animal welfare measures that we have been
discussing now for a couple of years. I would also remind the
House that, by my counting, there are 10 significant animal
welfare measures which we have brought in, or which are very
nearly through the process, so we are making progress in this
area.
(Con)
My Lords, as a youngster growing up in Liverpool, I spent many
happy hours visiting Chester Zoo. I understand that my noble
friend visited Chester Zoo recently. Was he able to find the zoo
not only informative but educational, and did he experience the
best practice during his visit?
of Richmond Park (Con)
I did recently visit Chester Zoo, and it was a hugely eye-opening
experience and, in many respects, inspiring. I would say that it
is probably the leading organisation in the world looking at the
problem affecting Asian elephants in particular, which is the
spread of elephant herpes—which does not sound all that serious,
but it is life-threatening to animals in the wild. If the work
that Chester Zoo has done proves fruitful—and it should do—this
could be a very significant win for Asia’s dwindling elephant
population.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Gough Island albatross and the Gough Island bunting
were in great danger of being wiped out entirely. The Government
very helpfully helped the RSPB in undertaking an eradication
programme of the mice that were killing all the birds on the
ground. Sadly, that eradication programme has not worked—though
it almost worked—and it really needs to be done again, or those
beautiful birds will be wiped out forever. Will the Government
assist the RSPB on the next eradication programme?
of Richmond Park (Con)
The noble Lord is right, and it is a real shame because the RSPB
thought that it had succeeded, until it caught a single mouse on
a camera trap, but obviously that means there are more. When we
say “mice”, of course, anyone who has seen them would not
recognise them as mice—they have swelled to look more like
grizzly, very large rats, as a consequence of the diets they have
enjoyed for the last few decades. The work continues: we are
talking to the RSPB, and we have a range of measures and support
that we are providing to overseas territories in their various
attempts to remove invasive species—this is one of them. I very
much hope that we will be able to support the next round.
