The UK government announced plans this week to ban all third-party puppy and kitten sales throughout England. The new policy states that people wanting to purchase a companion animal under six months of age must deal one-on-one with the breeder or adoption center, effectively spelling an end to puppy and kitten mills in the country along with the sale of these animals in pet shops.
Puppy and kitten mills are notoriously cruel operations, housing dozens of animals in tiny, squalid cages with little to no exercise or socialization. Females are bred time after time with no break until they are no longer “valuable,” and then disposed of. Puppies are removed from their mothers far too young.
With the new regulations, breeders will only be allowed to sell animals they have bred themselves – even people selling animals online will be required to publish their license number and in-depth details of the puppy’s history. Breeders will also have to show potential buyers that the puppies are still with their mother before they are permitted to make a sale.
“A ban on third-party sales will ensure the nation’s much-loved pets get the right start in life,” said environment secretary Michael Gove. “People who have a complete disregard for pet welfare will no longer be able to profit from this miserable trade.”
This landmark decision is largely attributed to pressure from the “Lucy’s Law” campaign, which saw a petition with 143,000 signatures presented to the government in May.
The campaign was inspired by a rescued Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lucy, who suffered terribly at the hands of cruel breeders.
Along with the forthcoming ban, the government has introduced new animal welfare regulations which come into effect on the 1st of October. These include improved animal welfare standards and a ban on selling any puppies, kittens, ferrets or rabbits less than eight weeks old.
The new regulations are under consultation until the 19th of September, and public response is invited. Following the consultation period, the government will review all the responses and compile a final proposal to lay before Parliament.
While it’s promising news that inhumane puppy mills in England may fade into obscurity, animal advocacy and welfare organizations still urge people to adopt animals rather than buying from breeders.
An estimated 40,000 to 80,000 puppies are sold in England via third parties every year. In comparison, The Dogs Trust report that more than 66,000 stray dogs were handled by authorities in 2017. Sixty percent of these animals were reunited with their owners, leaving more than 26,000 abandoned.
Choosing to adopt homeless animals is not only a compassionate choice, but it reduces pressure on animal rescue organizations and takes the power away from unscrupulous breeders.
I feel I need to speak up on behalf of a lot of genuine sellers & point out that not all breeders can be labelled as animal abusers. Neither should people who are owners of beloved pets & do not wish to mutilate them by neutering/spaying (yes, it is a matter of opinion as is circumcision for instance & please do not lecture me on the so called benefits of taking away what Mother Nature has instilled in them as I’ve heard it all a million & one times before & do not agree with) require a licence to responsibly rehome their offspring, should they have any. How does this make the owners criminals if they are thoroughly vetting the potential new owners & their home environments prior to giving the animals away? It is shallow to say in the least, that all sellers across the spectrum are labelled as abusers & laws being proposed & implemented for those doing nothing wrong, when there is real abuse & crime going on in the world. Stringent laws such as not being allowed to rehome a pet under the age of 8 weeks, when they are fully weaned & no longer dependant on their mother should of course be in place without a doubt, but extreme measures such as banning third party sales altogether will not only result in an increased crime rate due to sellers (including genuine pet owners) having to operate underground (which they will, without a doubt & anyone with half a brain would know this) it will result in other owners having to give the offspring of their much loved pets up to rescue centres which will be flooded with animals requiring homes. They may have no choice but to euthanise perfectly healthy animals in some circumstances due to not being able to keep up. Meanwhile, some of the animals will be stuck in shelters for what could end up being a very long time, missing out on the opportunity to be socialised amongst children & other pets whilst they are still young & adaptable, could into hostile, timid cats & dogs who will be far from ideal for those seeking a family friendly pet. It’s important to note that many of the animals that end up in rescue centres have suffered abuse & are traumatised, timid & temperamental as a result. As wrong & sad as this is, a family in search of a loving pet should not be made to feel guilty if they choose to buy from a home environment rather than from a rescue centre in order to rule out the obvious potential implications. It’s shocking to read comments about the sale of animals being wrong, some of which are coming from people who make a conscious choice to consume the meat of animals on a daily basis. Hypocrisy at its finest. Animal cruelty is wrong. Charging for a pet has more pros than cons. A person who is willing to invest in an animal is far more likely to be able to fulfil its requirements than someone who is financially unstable but in search of a free or cheap companion obtainable from a rescue centre that is desperately seeking to find homes for their many animals. There are breeders who feed their animals on the very best diets, dedicate time & energy & are genuinely passionate about protecting their species & working with their beloved animals. Why is it wrong for them to be compensated when they are making such a valuable contribution to society by providing them with healthy, happy pets? Anyone who has a beloved pet that has come from a good home should well & truly reflect on this matter deeply instead of or at least prior to throwing every seller into the same category & implying that all breeders & pet shops are unethical & should be put out of business because of the fact that one inhumane breeder decided to mercilessly lock up their dog when she was no longer of any use to them, resulting in heartbreaking consequences. There are numerous people who hold the opinion that consuming meat is considered animal cruelty. Yet how many people (veggies & vegans aside) would be willing to ditch the hamburgers, the chicken nuggets, the pork sausages, bacon rashers, etc, etc in favour of a mixed leaf salad? Somehow, killing animals to satisfy your cravings is ok when you could easily survive on plants? Yet, “third parties” selling perfectly healthy, well socialised pets to responsible, thoroughly vetted, loving homes is wrong? How this makes any sense to anyone is beyond me.
I sincerely hope you are able to stop puppy and kitten mills at once! You need to seriously update your laws and penalties on animal cruelty, as well. Get these things done! Also, get rid of the Muslims who have no respect for England, anima!s or children!!
Are you seriously comparing animal cruelty with people who have a certain religious believe ?!? This is what makes this world a dangerous place !
This is wonderful news!!
I WISH THAT THE USA WOULD FOLLOW SUIT. BUT HERE IT IS SO CORRUPT AND ABOUT THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.
Thank you to UK for taking care of this dirty business.
Come on, USA – you’re up!
That is great! Adopt don’t shop!
EXCELLENT NEWS! — you MUST CRACK DOWN hard on these animal abusers — with their depraved indifference you MUST keep an eye on them, whether you throw them into jails, rubber rooms OR whether you place them under HOUSE ARREST, you MUST ENSURE they will not continue with their horrific line of work with animals — if you do NOT watch them, they WILL return to abusing animals, any which way they can — PLEASE enforce firmly these new laws protecting animals — without caring humans, animals don’t stand a chance.
About time some government did something. US should also!
This is a great and wonderful thing, I Praise God!
This should encourage other countries and the like to do very same thing.
This is the Best and a beautiful thing for them to do and it should encourage other countries to do the very same thing.
Fabulous news for companion animals. May the law be uniformly enforced. Rescue animals are just as capable of showering owners with love and loyalty as any purebred animals. All of my pets have been rescues. I commend the UK for taking a stand against puppy (and all animal) mills.
This is great news.
As a UK citizen I am proud that we are taking the lead in this. Just a shame that people still want to buy puppies when there are so many rescue dogs still waiting for that forever home.
This is the right way to go forward to finally close all puppymills
Que la France s’inspire de cette initiative
What an enormous step to fight animals cruelty and abuse – I hope it will be an example to follow for many many more countries – congratulations UK !!!
Barack Obama once said : “This is what change feels like” in reference to the introduction of the “Affordable Care Act”.
I hope we look back on Lucy’s Law in the same way. Well done the UK!!
Exactly.
This legislation should be world wide, its all about money, and the only way to stop it is jail all persons involved, word will spread, then we will see some change.’
So many years overdue everywhere.
So well done UK!!!
Amazing great news from the UK government. Please implement this exact legislation in Australia. It’s about time these horrid human beings are expelled from this terrible practice and let the breaders and adoption centres who know and care for these beautiful animals that do their job so well. Congratulations to the best decision from the UK government.
The puppy mills make a fortune. The poor bitches that have to produce these pups suffer mentally and physically for the rest of their lives. Quite often the pups are extremely ill and they do not live Use rescue centres, they check all the animals that come in, after all you want a dog to love not just a fashion accessary.
How comendable! Now America needs to follow this ruling, no more puppy mills, but these breeders need to be watched closely or they’ll become another means of puppy mills!!!!!
Hooray U.K. I hope Australia follows suit. However I fear that banning them will not stop people from operating these mills. People being what they are I fear a black market will spring up if it hasn’t already.
People please, please adopt from your local shelter.
I think all Puppy Mills should be banned.
Wonderful news. US should follow the same rules. Adopt only!
Thank you U.K.!!
this is a great start. when you adopt from a shelter, you save two animals. the one you took from the cage and the one who can now be saved because you emptied a cage….. and I wish they would stop with the cucumber articles.. they just give cruel people a reason to scare the crap out of their own cat with a stupid cucumber.
Hooray for the UK! They are making positive strides to improve the lives of companion animals. I hope that the USA follows suit and quickly adopts the same rules and regulations to help our dogs, cats, etc, Britain is setting the best example. Congratulations. WAY TO GO!
It is about time these awful places are being banned and shut down
Now the US needs to do the same
Thank you UK
How can we make this happen in ALL the USA???
WWonderful News UK and heartfelt thanks for your wisdom and compassion. Gail