Penrith and The Border MP, Dr Neil Hudson, yesterday spoke during the Second Reading of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill in the House of Commons.
In his speech Dr Hudson praised the main tenets of the Bill but also outlined areas where he thinks it could be improved. With his background as a veterinary surgeon and a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, Dr Hudson called for a reassessment of the point in a dog’s pregnancy when it should be illegal to transport them and for ear-cropping in dogs and de-clawing of cats to be stamped out.
He went on to highlight necessary improvements in how we transport livestock, such as improving the local UK abattoir network so shorter distances are required to travel.
Furthermore, Dr Hudson referenced the current crisis in the pig sector as a symptom of the animal welfare and livestock farming issues we face in this country. With increasing reports that pigs are tail biting, developing respiratory diseases and some are being culled, Dr Hudson told the house that his time supervising culls of farm animals during the foot and mouth crisis had a terrible impact on farmers, vets and others. Even more reason that culls should be avoided at all costs.
Speaking after the debate Dr Hudson said
“The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill has a great tranche of measures to improve the lives of animals both great and small, with strides forward in livestock worrying, zoos and primates. The Bill is in addition to important legislation on sentencing and pet theft.
The Bill does need to be strengthened in the areas of health and welfare and livestock transportation, including the movement of horses. There does also need to be urgent additional action to address the crisis in the pig sector. There will be more opportunities to lay amendments and adapt the Bill as it progresses.
As I said in the debate, animal welfare is something that unites us in the United Kingdom and across the House of Commons. The debate was constructive and I am convinced that continuing to build a cross-party consensus is the vehicle to carry through necessary improvements to this and other animal welfare legislation.”
Please find the full speech at the following link: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-10-25/debates/58F30AB3-1785-491F-B9ED-0DDD739F64D8/AnimalWelfare(KeptAnimals)Bill#contribution-0A3B3BE9-7F33-45F8-A49E-74EE660FDE7D.
