Let’s implement real change for animal welfare in the UK
This week Dogs Trust gave evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee in Parliament, as part of the group’s Oral Evidence Session on Pet Welfare & Abuse.?
Our Veterinary Director, Dr Paula Boyden, spoke to the committee about issues such as unscrupulous breeding, the importation of dogs and puppy smuggling, abuse and horrific mutilations like ear cropping.
It was a welcome opportunity to share our experiences on a number of important issues, from smuggling dogs over borders through to the impact of the cost-of-living on dog owners, and I’d like to thank the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee for inviting Dogs Trust to take part.
After the political game-playing that put paid to the Kept Animals Bill, we can only hope that the Government will grasp this opportunity to implement real changes which will help improve the lives of animals in the UK.
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Broken promises
Yesterday’s session came in the wake of the Government dropping its pledge to implement the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The Bill would have brought in measures which would have clamped down on the horrific puppy smuggling trade, which sees dogs smuggled into the UK in horrific conditions, and dogs with mutilations, such as cropped ears, being brought into the UK for sale.??
Dogs Trust has campaigned for over ten years to stop the abhorrent puppy smuggling trade and has been urging the Government to make good on its manifesto promise to crack down on the issue. All of us at Dogs Trust, along with many of our partners in the animal welfare sector, were extremely disappointed that, despite clear backing from the public, 65,000 of whom emailed the Prime Minister pleading with him to pass the Kept Animals Bill to protect animals, it was blocked multiple times from passing through Parliament, before being dropped altogether.?
Let’s make change happen now
The evidence session yesterday felt like a ray of hope that change might finally be on the horizon. I just hope the Government will finally put the needs of our country’s animals ahead of scoring political points in Westminster this time.