During the remaining stages of the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill in the House of Commons yesterday, Dr Neil Hudson MP covered pet theft, high welfare standards in trade deals, puppy smuggling and the abhorrent practice of ear-cropping.
Dr Hudson showed particular concern for media reports that the Government may be planning on dropping the ban on importing farmed fur and foie gras.
During his speech Dr Hudson said:
“On pet theft, we are bringing it into law, but I want it very much expanded from dogs to include cats, but also horses and farm animals, which are being stolen as we speak.”
“We should say firmly that we will not undermine our fantastic British farmers, who farm to the highest animal health and welfare standards. In my constituency of Penrith and The Border, the Cumbrian farmers are right up there among the best of our British farmers, and we must not undermine those farmers in these trade deals.”
“We do not need to wait for a law to come in or for primary legislation; we can crack on with secondary legislation and ban the import of dogs that have had their ears cropped, and potentially of cats that have had their claws removed.”
“I hope that media reports about the Government dropping the ban on imports of farmed fur and foie gras are false…some say it’s a matter of personal choice but they should tell that to the animals farmed for their fur and to the birds with a tube rammed down their throat who are force-fed to make their livers pathologically fatty for some culinary delicacy.”
Rounding up the debate, Minister Jo Churchill MP said:
“As my hon. Friend Dr Hudson pointed out, the understanding of sentience is always evolving, so we want to leave it to experts from the world of science and so on to define it.
In short, the Bill has been carefully drafted to create a targeted, proportionate and timely accountability mechanism on animal welfare. It is designed to support the House’s scrutiny of Government, and I look forward to all those in the House making good use of it.”
Speaking after the debate, Dr Hudson added:
“As an MP who is a veterinary surgeon, I welcome the thrust of this Bill and this is a great opportunity to put animal sentience at the heart of UK legislation. Our high animal welfare standards, as I have said many times before, cannot be undermined. Global Britain is a positive idea but we cannot compromise on standards in the search for new markets.
I hope the Minister listens to concerns from colleagues across the House as we have a duty of care over the fully sentient animals in our care.”
