I have had a number of constituents contact me about animal welfare.
I share the high regard for animal welfare. I have supported many improvements in animal welfare including a ban on the use of conventional battery cages for laying hens; mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses across England; a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses; the strongest ivory ban in the world; mandatory microchipping of dogs; and new regulations for minimum standards for meat chickens; and the modernisation of the licensing system for dog breeding and pet sales. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 raises the maximum sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years. In addition, the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 formally recognises animals as sentient beings in domestic and establishes the Animal Sentience Committee, consisting of experts within the field, to ensure that animal sentience is considered when developing policy across Government.
Legislation requiring the microchipping of cats has now been passed, requiring cat owners to microchip their cat by 10 June 2024. This will make it easier for lost or stray pet cats to be reunited with their owners and returned home safely. Further, the Ivory Act has been extended to include ivory from hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, killer whale (orca), as well as sperm whale. I also supported the Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act in the previous parliamentary session, which will ban the advertising and offering for sale of unacceptably low animal welfare activities abroad.
More needs to be done and, if returned, I will do all that I can to improve animal welfare. On foie gras, I am aware that the production of force-fed foie gras raises welfare concerns. This practice is already banned in England and Wales under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. I understand that Ministers have been considering further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras that is produced overseas using force feeding practices. The Government continues to gather information and build a clear evidence base to inform decisions on the import of foie gras.
Finally, fur farming has been banned in the UK for over 20 years and there are already restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. The Government’s call for evidence on the current fur sector will be used to inform future decisions on the fur trade.
