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Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill The purpose of the Bill is to: ● Deliver manifesto commitments to strengthen animal welfare, including banning live exports, tackling puppy smuggling and banning the keeping of primates as pets without a licence.

The main benefits of the Bill would be: ● Taking opportunities presented by Brexit to go further in improving our animal welfare standards and taking forward key parts of the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. ● Improving the lives of farm animals, pets and kept wild animals by ending unnecessary journeys for slaughter and fattening and addressing the serious issue of dog attacks on livestock, which cause distress to both livestock and farmers. ● Improving the lives of pets in this country and protecting pet owners by cracking down on the cruel practice of puppy smuggling and creating a specific new offence for pet abduction. ● Ensuring that kept wild animals receive the specialist care they need, whether that be animals in zoos or primates that are kept privately.

The main elements of the Bill are: ● Banning the exports of livestock for fattening and slaughter. ● Strengthening powers for police to deal with incidents of livestock worrying. ● Tackling puppy smuggling by reducing the number of pets that can travel under the pet travel rules and powers to take further action, including raising the minimum age that pets can travel into Great Britain and banning imports of dogs with cropped ears and docked tails. ● Introducing a new pet abduction offence to reflect the value we place on our pets. ● Creating a rigorous licensing scheme for those keeping primates requiring them to meet high welfare standards and ensuring higher protections for all primates that are not kept in zoos. ● Updating the Zoo Licensing Act 1981 to improve enforcement and strengthen conservation requirements for zoos.

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