My ministerial colleagues and I share your high regard for animal welfare. The Government has set out a series of ambition reforms as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. Since 2010, the Department has achieved many changes regarding improving animal welfare. This includes banning the use of conventional battery cages for laying hens, making CCTV mandatory in slaughterhouses across England, banning the use of wild animals in circuses and introducing the strongest ivory ban in the world. Other measures introduced include the mandatory microchipping of dogs in 2015 and the modernisation of the licensing system for dog breeding and pet sales. In 2021, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act came into force, raising the maximum sentence for animal cruelty from 6 months to 5 years.
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act formally recognises animals as sentient beings in domestic law and ensures that animal sentience is taken into account when developing policy across Government through the creation of an Animal Sentience Committee, which will be made up of animal experts from within the field.
Further, the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill will bring in some of the world’s strongest protections for pets, livestock and kept wild animals. This includes introducing a ban on keeping primates as pets, banning the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening, and also addressing the unethical trade of puppy smuggling by reducing the number of pets that can travel under pet travel rules. I look forward to supporting this Bill as it continues to progress through Parliament.
Finally, ministers are committed to ban the import of hunting trophies from thousands of species. This will be one of the toughest bans in the world and will protect endangered animals and help to strengthen and support long-term conservation.