Ideal Queen's Speech: Prioritise pet health and welfare over profit

"My Government will introduce a Bill to ensure that all pet breeding legislation prioritises health and welfare over profit."

Over the last few years we have seen considerable progress for animal welfare, however much more still needs to be done to make a real difference to pets and pet owners across the UK.

We would like the government to make a commitment in this Queens Speech to really tackle the problems around indiscriminate and uncontrolled breeding of all pets. Breeding laws relating to dogs are outdated, and those relating to other animals are currently non-existent.  This means that as a charity we are taking in increasing number of stay and abandoned pets each year, and we are not alone; all other animal charities are dealing with increased demand. This is putting a huge pressure on our services.

The Breeding and Sale of Dogs Act is outdated and ineffective. We feel that this government should commit to a full and proper review of pet breeding legislation to ensure health and welfare is prioritised over profit.  Far too often we are seeing the results of puppies bred in awful conditions in large scale puppy farms, their welfare is severely compromised and no provision is made for their environmental or social needs.  

We are also seeing increasing numbers of illegally imported puppies which are brought over from Eastern Europe in horrific conditions often crammed into the back of transit vans without proper access to food or water. Not only is the heath and welfare of these puppies severely compromised on the journey to the UK, but these conditions create the perfect environment for the spread of disease. Underage puppies cannot be properly vaccinated against diseases such as rabies, and the risk to the UK is a serious one.  We would like the Government to ensure that enforcement at the ports is improved.  

Every passported animal should be properly checked when entering the UK. A robust and efficient enforcement system is essential to stop the flow of illegally imported puppies.
 
Overbreeding and overpopulation is just one of the issues we’d like the government to take action on and we are looking forward to working with them on this and other issues over the next Parliament.

Link to manifesto - http://www.bluecross.org.uk/137280/manifesto.html