UK Parliament / Open data

Animal Welfare

Proceeding contribution from Mark Spencer (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 25 May 2023. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Animal Welfare.

I think that was a demonstration of the games the hon. Member seeks to play and would like to play, but while he plays his political games, we are getting on with delivering for animals. I can reread the list of all the things we have delivered, and even he had to acknowledge that it is an extensive list.

We have committed ourselves to delivering the measures in the kept animals Bill, and we will deliver them. Live exports are a very good example. Not a single live animal has been exported since we left the European Union.

We will close that loophole and make sure we deliver. We continue to be committed to delivering on puppy smuggling. There will be a statutory instrument this year on keeping primates as pets. That was a manifesto commitment, and we will deliver on it very soon. Pet abduction is a very good example of where we can go further. In the kept animals Bill, we said we would protect dogs from abduction, and by approaching this in the way we propose today, we can include cats in that measure to protect them too. We are already making reforms to the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. We are engaging with the zoo sector to make sure that we can capitalise on the progress we have already made to ensure we deliver for those animals.

We are very proud of our record on animal welfare. We continue to be committed in this area, and we will deliver before the next general election.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
733 cc497-8 
Session
2022-23
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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