The government is guilty of an ‘astonishing betrayal’ over animal welfare

Critics say government U-turn means tens of thousands of dogs, cats, kittens, sheep, calves and primates will still suffer without legal protection, writes Jane Dalton

Sheep packed into a lorry (Compassion in World Farming)

Ministers and civil servants are fond of repeating the mantra that the UK is a world leader in animal welfare, and a raft of reforms were promised in both the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto, as well as in the party’s grand animal-welfare plan of 2021, announced to great fanfare.

They included a ban on exports abroad of live calves and sheep in cruel conditions for fattening and slaughter – widely touted as one of the big benefits of Brexit.

The promises also included a crackdown on puppy smuggling and pet theft, a ban on importing declawed cats and dogs with cropped ears, greater protection for sheep from dangerous dogs, a ban on keeping primates as pets and improved rules on zoo animal welfare.

Declawing kittens causes pain and walking difficulties (AFP via Getty Images)

But now the government has announced it is scrapping the Kept Animals Bill that contained the measures, to the united fury of animal lovers, lobbyists and charities, who accused the government of an “astonishing betrayal of both animals and public trust”.

After all, many people have worked for decades towards getting such legislation into parliament.

During the Conservative Party leadership race, Rishi Sunak himself pledged to lead the measures. “Rishi looks forward to championing this Bill as it continues to progress through parliament,” his team wrote.

The U-turn over the reforms appears designed to draw a line under the government of Boris Johnson, for whom the Bill had been a flagship piece of legislation.

And the UK’s leading animal-protection organisations have warned that animals will continue to suffer without the protections the Bill would have provided.

Puppies and kittens will still be victims of smuggling, and dogs and cats abducted, according to Battersea, Blue Cross, Cats Protection, Dogs Trust, the RSPCA and the Kennel Club. And dogs with cropped ears and declawed cats – both considered cruel, needless mutilations - may still be imported into the UK.

Dogs with cropped ears may still be imported (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

As puppy smuggling has risen in recent years, border authorities recorded a 260 per cent increase in the number of puppies found not meeting UK import rules – from 324 in 2019 to 843 in 2020.

The now-axed legislation would have raised the minimum age of imported puppies from 15 weeks to six months and banned imports of heavily pregnant dogs, to protect welfare.

Declawing cats is compared to cutting off a person’s toes or fingers at the top joint, and critics say it affects balance. The state of New York has banned the practice, and it’s illegal in the UK – but it will now remain legal to import animals subjected to the procedure.

For more than three decades, a campaign has been fought with successive governments to ban live exports. People in Dover and Ramsgate in Kent have protested at the ports against the “horrific” trade in live beings, in which thousands of young, vulnerable animals are sent on journeys lasting for days in cramped lorries with precious little water or rest.

The last Tory election manifesto promised a blitz on puppy smuggling, an end to live exports and a ban on keeping primates as pets (Conservative Party)

Although Brexit checks have curbed live exports from Britain to Europe, they continue from Northern Ireland, and if red tape is overcome, there’s nothing to prevent them from restarting without a formal ban.

In 2019, 30,890 animals were exported alive from Britain - 16,746 to Europe, and 14,144 to the Republic of Ireland. From there, they may be further transported as far as northern Africa and the Middle East.

Dog attacks on sheep cost the industry £1.8m last year, according to NFU Mutual, and farmers regularly speak of the distress caused to themselves and their flocks by sheep worrying. The government had intended to give livestock, including farmed deer, llamas and donkeys, more protection. Police were to have greater powers to seize out-of-control dogs.

(Compassion in World Farming)

Meanwhile, pet theft has been rising sharply, particularly of fashionable dog breeds such as American and French bulldogs and Staffordshire bull terriers. Around 2,160 dogs were reported stolen last year, equal to six a day, according to Direct Line Pet Insurance. Even though the theft of a pet causes enormous anxiety and grief, the crime is treated as a loss of property, with no recognition of the emotional distress.

The doomed Kept Animals Bill created a new criminal offence of pet theft, with jail terms of up to five years for thieves.

French bulldogs are popular with thieves (Getty Images for Westminster Ken)

The RSPCA estimates there are up to 5,000 primates, such as marmosets, capuchins and squirrel monkeys, confined in UK homes - but a ban on such captive pets is now among the measures being dropped.

In 2020, animal-welfare minister Lord Goldsmith said: “Primates are hugely intelligent and socially complex animals. When they are confined in tiny cages, often alone and with little stimulation, their lives are a misery.

“It’s important we take action to prevent the suffering caused to them when they are kept as pets.”

Peter Kemple Hardy, UK campaigns director of the World Animal Protection organisation, warned that failure to support private members’ bills containing all the axed measures would “allow the continuation of abhorrent cruelty to animals which millions of animal lovers in this country will not forgive”.

The reforms would have ended the keeping of primates as pets (AFP via Getty Images)

Philip Lymbery, global chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, which has worked for decades to end to live exports, called for a meeting with environment secretary Therese Coffey, saying he was appalled by the axing of the reforms, which left the UK lagging behind New Zealand and Brazil, which have outlawed the trade.

Claire Bass, of Humane Society International/UK, said: “The government’s decision to abandon the Kept Animals Bill is an astonishing betrayal of both animals and public trust.

“It needed only a few more hours in the Commons to succeed, so parliamentary time is clearly not the real issue here.

“The real reason, Whitehall sources tell us, that the Bill has been dropped is because of concerns that it could act as a vehicle for uncomfortable debates that the government does not want held on polarising issues such as hunting with dogs.

“We’ll of course back delivery of these commitments as private members’ bills, but this is a high-risk strategy, and indicative of the low priority the government now evidently places on animal welfare.”

The Independent asked the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to comment. It pointed to Mr Spencer’s announcement and also an announcement that members will be appointed to the first ever Animal Sentience Committee.