In the Lords

My Lords, No. 10 and, indeed, the Prime Minister have clearly and emphatically pushed back against any such suggestion today.

My noble friend might well be right.

My Lords, the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill outlines how the Government will fulfil their manifesto commitment to, among other things,

My Lords, two years ago we introduced Lucy’s law, whose purpose was to tackle unscrupulous breeders in this country.

My Lords, enforcement is clearly key, but we did not propose increasing the minimum age of imported kittens to six months or banning the imp

My Lords, I am aware of the position taken by the Dogs Trust.

My Lords, there is no doubt that, during the Covid pandemic, we saw a spike in the acquisition of pets of all sorts, particularly dogs.

My Lords, we believe that the network of agencies and stakeholders that work on puppy smuggling are doing a good job.

My Lords, an unacceptable number of low-welfare establishments provide puppies and dogs for the UK market from overseas.

My Lords, the proposal that we have put forward involves banning the import of heavily pregnant dogs for welfare reasons.