Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the oral contribution of 1 November 2017, Official Report, column 418WH on puppy smuggling, if he will detail who the stakeholders are who believe that a third party ban is unnecessary.

The EFRA Committee looked at the issue of third party sales in some detail as part of its review on animal welfare and domestic pets. The transcript of the Committee’s evidence and the final report note there were mixed views on the consequences of a ban on third party sales of puppies. The Committee divided on this recommendation. During the EFRA Committee’s review, my department received briefing material from two stakeholders, Blue Cross and the Dogs Trust in which they outlined their concerns about a ban on third-party sales of puppies, including the risk of sales going underground.

To address the concerns about breeding and sale of puppies, we are planning to bring forward regulations that would ensure that anyone in the business of selling pets, whether online or in a pet shop, will need a licence, and they would have to abide by a statutory animal welfare code for dogs. The regulations will tighten up the controls on dog breeding, pet sales and other licensable activities involving animals, applying up to date statutory animal welfare standards and give local authorities new powers on enforcement which will deal with the issue.