Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr
Thérèse Coffey): The UK has some of the highest animal welfare
standards worldwide and since 2010 animal welfare has been one of
the Government’s priorities.
We have raised standards for farm animal welfare, including by
introducing CCTV in all slaughterhouses. We have significantly
enhanced companion animal welfare, including by revamping the
local authority licensing regime for commercial pet services
including selling, dog breeding, boarding, and animal displays.
We have brought in valuable new protections for wild animals,
including by passing the Ivory Act, one of the toughest bans on
elephant ivory sales in the world.
In our 2019 manifesto, we set out an unprecedented package of
welfare improvements, many of which we have already delivered.
For example, we have increased the penalties for those convicted
of animal cruelty; we have passed the Animal Welfare Sentience
Act 2022 and launched a dedicated Committee; we have made
microchipping compulsory for cats as well as dogs; and we have
announced the extension of the Ivory Act to cover five more
endangered species.
In 2021, we published our ambitious and comprehensive Action Plan
for Animal Welfare. This set out an array of future reforms for
this Parliament and beyond, including a ban on the import and
export of shark fins, which just last week passed its
3rd Reading in the House of Lords.
As the Minister updated the House on 25th May, we will
be taking forward the measures in the Kept Animals Bill
individually during the remainder of the Parliament. As a first
step, yesterday the government launched a four-week public
consultation seeking views on a new licensing scheme for
privately owned primates in England and new draft standards for
the care and management of these primates. The needs of these
creatures are extremely complex and by requiring all privately
owned primates to be kept to zoo-level standards, we will ban
primates being kept as if they were pets.
Following the consultation, we will introduce the secondary
legislation this year, quicker than would have been possible had
we continued with the Kept Animals Bill. This will deliver on
another commitment from our manifesto and our Action Plan.
The government remains fully committed to delivering the
remaining manifesto commitments and maintaining our strong track
record on animal welfare, both in the course of this Parliament
and beyond.
