Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

14:25:00

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. As we know, tens of thousands of puppies are illegally smuggled into the UK every year; it is a huge animal welfare problem. This Bill will help to close the issue of having mutilations in dogs. As a veterinary surgeon, I see many dogs with cropped ears and docked tails—acts that are illegal to perform in the UK. People are performing those acts in the UK then claiming that the puppies have been brought in from abroad. If we ban puppies coming in from abroad with those mutilations, it will be of huge benefit to animal welfare. The Bill will also protect public health, because we know that the tens of thousands of dogs being brought in are not being tested for diseases such as rabies, which can affect people. This is also about serious organised crime: preventing tens of thousands of puppies being brought into the UK will help us to tackle the criminal gangs doing those acts. In the interests of time, I will finish by saying that I am pleased to have cross-party support on this issue as well as the support of the entire veterinary profession. I thank the Dogs Trust, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British Veterinary Association for all the work they did to help to make this happen.

I call the shadow Minister.

14:26:00

Animal welfare unites us in humanity. As a veterinary surgeon, a Member of Parliament and the shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister, I can proudly say that His Majesty’s loyal Opposition strongly support this Bill in the interests of animal health and welfare.

14:27:00

I congratulate the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) and thank him for bringing forward this important Bill. This Government take the issue of pet smuggling seriously. Earlier this year, we made a manifesto commitment to end puppy smuggling, and that is exactly what we will do. I am delighted to announce that the Government will be fully supporting the passage of the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill through Parliament. We stand ready to work with the hon. Gentleman to clamp down on deceitful pet sellers who prioritise profit over welfare. This Bill will crack down on pet smuggling by closing loopholes in the current pet travel rules. At present, illegal importers of dogs, cats and ferrets often exploit loopholes to bring in animals under the guise of genuine owners travelling with their pets. The Bill will close those loopholes by reducing the number of dogs, cats and ferrets that are permitted to be brought into Great Britain by a person under the pet travel rules. The limit will be reduced from five pets per person to five pets per vehicle, and three pets per foot or air passenger. The Bill will also provide us with powers to crack down on low-welfare imports of pets. We will first use those powers to restrict the movement of heavily pregnant and mutilated dogs and cats into Great Britain. At the same time, we will raise the minimum age at which puppies and kittens can be brought into Great Britain, which will be set at six months. We will also ensure that the non-commercial movement of a pet into Great Britain must be linked to the movement of its owner. To move under the pet travel rules going forward, the pet and owner will have to travel within five days of each other. In the interests of time, I again thank the hon. Member for Winchester for taking forward this important Bill and look forward to working together to progress it through the House.

Does the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) wish to come back in?

Good. Question put and agreed to. [Applause.]

How dare Members clap? I had enough with Roger!