Sale of Puppy and Kitten, Now Banned in Britain

The government in Britain is going introduce a new legislation, which will ban puppies and kittens from being sold at the pet shops. This is done in order to stop animal exploitation and abuse. The decision is taken after holding several rounds of talks with the public that showed 95% support in favor of the ban.

The Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said, “This will mean that anyone looking to buy or adopt a puppy or kitten under six months must either deal directly with the breeder or with an animal re-homing centre”.

The new measure, which is popularly known as the Lucy’s Law, is in honor of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, who was rescued from a puppy farm in Wales in the year 2013. The dog had spent most of her life in a cage in the farm and as a result, she was not able to breed as her hips have blocked due to her lack of movement inside the cage. Later an animal lover, Lisa Garner took her home and launched a social media awareness campaign that ended with the passing of the new legislation in Britain. Lucy died in the year 2016.

The British government has said the new law will help “end the terrible welfare conditions found in puppy farming and solve a range of existing animal welfare issues”. The government also believes the ban will keep “high volume low welfare breeders”, both licensed and unlicensed breeder from flooding the pet shops with the puppies and kittens that are raised in difficult conditions. The pet shops will now only be allowed to deal with animal welfare shelters or the primary breeders of the pet.

London’s Battersea Dogs Home Chief, Claire Horton has welcomed the rules and said that it will “make sure the nation’s much-loved pets get the right start in life”. During 1998 and 2006 Battersea produced a popular TV series on pet care and rescues, which reflected general affection for cats and dogs in Britain. According to Britain’s People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) a veterinary charity, 49% of adults in the UK owned at least a pet in 2018.

PDSA’s has estimated cat population of 11.1 million edged out the 8.9 million dogs and 1.0 million rabbits. In the past few months, the British government has unfurled a number of animal welfare initiatives that animal rights activists believe that other countries will soon follow. In the month of October this year, a new law has banned licensed shops from dealing in puppies and kittens under the age of eight weeks.