MP welcomes ban on the sale of puppies and kittens
Alex Sobel has welcomed a ban on the third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England.
Lucy’s Law was officially passed into law last week, after a long campaign supported by Alex Sobel. The law requires pets to be bred and reared in a safe environment and sold from their place of birth in a bid to stamp puppy farming and deter puppy smugglers.
The legislation is named after Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel who died in after being made to give birth to repeated litters of puppies on a puppy farm in Wales. The ‘Lucy’s Law’ e-petition calling for an end to the practise - which removes puppies from their mothers and creates “sick, traumatised, dysfunctional dogs” - received nearly 150,000 signatures. In response, the government issued a Call for Evidence, followed by a consultation which closed in September 2018, with overwhelming support for a ban on the third-party sale of puppies and kittens.
Alex Sobel, who spoke up in Parliament on a number of occasions in support of the law, said: “I’m so pleased that this hard-fought campaign has finally come to fruition. We are a nation of animal lovers and heartless breeders have exploited that for far too long. Most prospective pet owners are unaware of the suffering that can go on behind the scenes on puppy farms and so I’m delighted that these cruel puppy farms will no longer be allowed to exist.”
From next April it will be illegal for anyone to sell puppies and kittens in England unless they are the breeder. The law will also ensure animals are not removed from their mothers after birth.