Campaign and petition email responses

Where is the Kept Animals Bill?

2 years since the Kept Animals Bill was introduced which the SNP supported, as well as the carry over motion, 3 DEFRA Ministers later, we are no further on banning foie gras and animal fur imports nor tackling illegal puppy and kitten smuggling. The SNP note the abysmal failures of the UK Gov to prioritise animal rights and welfare abuse mitigations.

The Kept Animals Bill received its first reading in June 2021, yet due to inner Tory Party turmoil, it has never made it to report stage, now the Tories have scrapped the Bill entirely.

The SNP are committed to protecting the welfare of animals and will continue to legislate to improve the welfare of animals in Scotland and within the UK. However, whilst the Scottish Government has experience in managing stringent animal welfare standards to the highest levels, matching EU ambitions, the UK lags & is in serious danger on renegading on animal welfare issues.

In Scotland under the SNP, we continue to be a beacon on animal welfare rights across the UK and Europe on animal rights, with the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021 and the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023. In its Programme for Government, the SNP implemented the majority of recommendations on the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 and further measures on preventing trail hunting. Whilst last year, it became a legal requirement for puppy, kitten and rabbit breeders to be licensed.

Our DEFRA spokesperson Patricia Gibson MP, recently highlighted at Labour’s Opposition Day Debate on the Kept Animals Bill on June 21st 2023, the approaches the Scottish Government and the UK Government have taken, where we have led on animal welfare rights in the statute books in Scotland whilst also granting a legislative consent motion to the Kept Animals Bill in June 2021, whilst the UK Government renegades on their own Bill and the Animals Abroad Bill.

Patricia said: “The Scottish Governments is ambitious, progressive and keen, as a mark of how civilised Scotland is on these matters. However, we are shackled to a corpse who will not act and cannot act. I merely point out the dithering of the UK Government when it comes to delivering on their own promises in the Kept Animals Bill. They do not even have the confidence to deliver their own manifesto commitments and the very Bill they brought to the House. By contrast, only this week, Christine Grahame MSP introduced a Bill to the Scottish Parliament to tackle unlicensed puppy farming, establishing a code of practice for the buying and selling of dogs in Scotland. Meanwhile, in Scotland, we are forced to twiddle our thumbs waiting for this Government to implement their own measures on puppy farming.”

Unequivocally, the SNP will continue to stand up for animal rights and continue legislating for conservation and protections within law in Scotland, whilst SNP MPs in Westminster will continue to demand the UK Government follow our lead.