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Alberto Costa
Conservative MP for South Leicestershire

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Alberto Costa
Conservative MP for South Leicestershire

Kept Animals Bill

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The UK has long led the way on animal welfare. In 2021, the Government's Action Plan for Animal Welfare, set out reforms for this Parliament and beyond. Since then, the Government has passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, recognising the sentience of vertebrate animals and some invertebrate animals. In addition, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act introduced tougher sentences for cruelty, increasing maximum sentences. The Ivory Act came into force in 2022 and has recently been extended to cover five more endangered species. In April, the Government made cat microchipping compulsory.

The Kept Animals Bill, introduced in June 2021, was designed to implement several government ambitions for animal welfare, including banning the live exports of animals, seeking to prevent pet theft, and new measures to tackle livestock worrying. I am aware that the Bill’s multi-issue nature means that there has been considerable scope creep, and it risks going beyond the original commitments in the Conservative manifesto on which I was elected and those set out in the action plan. Therefore, the Government will now be taking forward measures in the Kept Animals Bill individually during the remainder of the Parliament.

I am assured that the Government remains fully committed to delivering its manifesto commitments on animal welfare. Having left the EU, the Government is able to and will ban live exports for fattening and slaughter. There have been no live exports from Great Britain since 2020, but legislation will ensure that this becomes permanent. Ministers remain committed to delivering it.

Regarding puppy smuggling, I know that the Government will ban the imports of young, heavily pregnant or mutilated dogs and this will be achieved quicker with a single-issue Bill than the secondary legislation required under the Kept Animals Bill. Further, the keeping of primates as pets will be banned and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will consult on primate-keeping standards.

My ministerial colleagues in Defra are committed to animal welfare and to delivering continued improvements, both in this Parliament and beyond.

 

 

 

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  • Abortion
  • Brachycephalic Animals
  • Breast Cancer
  • Business and Human Rights
  • Caged Farm Animals
  • Calls to Abolish the Lords Spiritual
  • Canals
  • Carer's Allowance
  • CBDC and Human Rights
  • Carers and Unpaid Carers
  • Childcare and Parental Leave
  • Child Poverty
  • Climate Change
  • Climate Change Cooperation
  • Commitments to Nature and Farming
  • Contaminated Blood
  • Cost of Living
  • Cost of Living - Maternity Pay
  • Cost of Living: Pay Rises and £15/Hour Minimum Wage
  • Cycling and Walking
  • Dangerous Dogs
  • Data Protection Act
  • Debt relief in Low-Income Countries
  • Deep Sea Mining
  • Dementia Diagnosis and Research
  • Diabetes
  • Digital Exclusion
  • Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill
  • Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill
  • Electoral Commission
  • Electronic Collars
  • Emergency Energy Tariff
  • Ethical Research & Innovation (Animals)
  • Excess Deaths
  • Fairness in the Farming Sector
  • Farmed Fish: Welfare
  • Fireworks
  • Sign up to my Newsletter
  • Fireworks and Animals
  • Food Banks
  • Fossil Fuels and Political Lobbying
  • Free School Meals for Disabled Children
  • Fuel Duty and Prices
  • Fuel Poverty
  • Funding for Further Education (FE)
  • Future Free from Homelessness
  • Future of the Winter Fuel Payment
  • Gambling Regulation
  • Global Nature Protection
  • Guide Dogs
  • Health and Care for Older People
  • Health and Care Bill
  • Health and Equality Acts (Amendment) Bill
  • Heart Conditions
  • Hedgerows
  • HMRC Fines
  • Hunger as a Weapon of War
  • Hunting Act
  • ICJ and UNRWA
  • Israel
  • Israel: Military Courts
  • International Health Regulations
  • Kept Animals Bill
  • Kept Animals Bill: Cats
  • Kinship Carers
  • Live Animal Exports
  • Local Government Funding
  • Mileage and Fuel Rates and Allowances
  • Modern Conversion Therapy
  • Net Zero Commitment
  • Neurological Conditions
  • NHS Digital and Patient Data
  • NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs
  • NHS Privatisation
  • Nigeria: FoRB
  • North Sea Oil and Gas
  • Ocean Protection
  • Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill
  • Online Safety Bill (Parliamentary Passage)
  • Onshore wind
  • Pakistan
  • Palliative Care
  • Pandemic Treaty
  • Parental Leave
  • Parkinson's Disease: Support With Energy Bills
  • Patient Safety
  • People's Plan for Nature
  • Personal Allowance Freeze
  • Pet Abduction
  • PIP Consultation
  • Plastic Pollution
  • Post Office: Horizon & Sub-postmasters
  • Private Jets
  • Protect Literary Landscapes
  • Public Order Bill
  • Pulmonary Fibrosis and Hypertension
  • Puppy Smuggling
  • Rare Conditions
  • Regulation of the Press
  • Religious Freedom (UK)
  • Renters Reform Bill
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  • Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
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  • River Management Petition
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  • School Food
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  • Smuggling of Cats
  • Solar Power: Agricultural Land
  • Statutory Sick Pay
  • STEM Subjects in Schools
  • Stop the Criminalisation of Homelessness (Criminal Justice Bill)
  • Strikes (General)
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  • Tackling Illegal Immigration
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  • The Energy Charter Treaty
  • Trophy Hunting
  • UK Trade and Business Commission
  • UN Tax Convention
  • Vaping and E-Cigarettes
  • Voter Identification
  • Wealth Tax
  • Women's State Pension Age
  • Work Capability Assessment Consultation Outcome
  • XL Bully Dogs

Alberto Costa Member of Parliament for South Leicestershire

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