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Cats: Animal Breeding

Asked by Wendy ChamberlainLiberal DemocratDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 15 October 2024UIN 7849

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure welfare standards in cat breeding.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.

Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations. This review considers whether the Regulations have met their objectives, and where there could be scope to further improve the protections they provide.

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