The UK has long led the way on animal welfare. I know that ministers are enhancing our world-leading standards with ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. In addition, the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will introduce some landmark protections for pets, livestock and kept wild animals. I look forward to supporting the Bill through its parliamentary passage.
Primates are highly intelligent, complex animals that require specialist care. Through the Bill, the Government will meet its manifesto commitment to ban keeping primates as pets, ensuring that all kept privately in England enjoy zoo-level standards of care, and that ownership at levels below these standards is phased out.
Live animals can suffer distress and injury during excessively long export journeys. EU rules prevented any changes to these journeys, but the UK Government is now able to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening. This Bill will ensure that the UK is the first European country to end this practice.
I understand that the Bill will also tackle puppy smuggling trade by reducing the number of pets, including dogs, cats and ferrets permitted to travel. The Bill enables the Environment Secretary to regulate the importation of cats, dogs and ferrets for the purpose of promoting their welfare. Further restrictions could include an increase in the minimum age of imported puppies, as well as the prohibition of the import of pregnant dogs and dogs with mutilations such as cropped ears and tails.
I fully appreciate your concerns about livestock worrying, which happens when a dog attacks or chases livestock on agricultural land or is at large in a field with sheep. This can result in significant injury and suffering and can have devastating consequences for livestock keepers. I understand that the Government has proposed to modernise existing legislation through the Kept Animals Bill. This includes amending definitions within the legislation to broaden the scope of the offence, as well as improving enforcement mechanisms to help the police deal with and investigate incidents of livestock worrying more effectively.
Further, in the most serious cases, the police will have powers to seize dogs after particularly serious incidents, if there is reason to believe that the dog may pose an ongoing risk to livestock. This will help reduce the risk of dogs reoffending, which is a serious problem.
I am aware that the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill has been carried over into the new parliamentary session and will return to the House as soon as parliamentary time allows.
