Kate Parminter has written in the Huffington Post about her campaign against puppy farming. Under the headline “Parliament Must Do the Right Thing and Do What It Takes to Bring the Horrific Practice of Puppy Farming to a Halt” she writes:
Our nation’s love of dogs and the way we care for our pets often brings out the very best in human nature. But sadly when it comes to breeding, it can also bring out the worst. For most people, care for animals is instinctive, coming from a deep understanding of their vulnerability and need for love and attention. For a few heartless criminals, the huge demand for pets, dogs in particular, is viewed simply as an opportunity to make easy money, with no regard at all for the welfare of the animals that are at their mercy.
…
It is not enough to simply rescue and treat animals – we need to go further than that and stop the abuse from happening in the first place. What is needed is political action which tackles the problem at its source, not just putting a sticking plaster over a problem when the damage has already been done.
She will be speaking on this topic in the Lords today and will be outlining several measures to control puppy farming, including:
- Mandatory licenses to breed puppies
- A ban on sales of puppies younger than eight weeks
She concludes:
On Monday I am speaking in Parliament and calling for the Government to do exactly that: not to see this as an issue just for Liberal Democrats and others who care about animal welfare to be speaking about – but to do the right thing and do what it takes to bring the horrific practice of puppy farming to a halt. This terrible trade has been going on far too long. It must stop now.
Editor: Please note that HuffPo follows the US convention of Capitalising Almost All the Words in a Headline. We don’t.
* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.
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6 Comments
We have had sheaves of legislation over the years, starting with a private member’s bill by Diana Maddock (Lady Beith). It seems to me that what is lacking is a will to enforce the laws we have. It is administrative action which is needed more than political, though I would support moves to close loopholes.
Should be ten weeks, really, not eight, but yeah.
All my dogs have been rescue dogs, but I recognise that not everybody can or wants to go down that road. Of course, some who buy from puppy farms, often without realising, are really getting a rescue dog, with all the attendant health problems that people think rescue dogs have because puppy farms sell overbred, undernourished, under socialised and unhealthy pups.
I think we need a bigger debate on animal rights. In my mind I sometimes refer what we do to animals as “animal slavery”. I remember struggling to think how we justify it and I came to the principle of survival. However, we still need to look out for animals.
Eddie – I read an interesting account recently on why homo sapiens survived and the other human species became extinct, even though they were co-existing for thousands of years. It claimed that our USP was to work with wolves when hunting large mammals. It was a balanced relationship – wolves and humans each brought their unique skills to the chase and needed to work together to bring down and kill large prey. So the relationship with dogs goes back to the beginning of the emergence of our species as the dominant one.
Hi Mary, yes, I’ve found this article that covers the theory:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/01/hunting-with-wolves-humans-conquered-the-world-neanderthal-evolution
A breeding licence is probably a good idea, but in general I would like to move away from regulatory fees towards taxpayer funded supervision. Regulatory fees often push micro businesses into the black market. Maybe half the cost should be paid by the taxpayer as it is for the public benefit.
The ban on selling puppies under age eight weeks sounds good though.
Mary & Eddie: this sounds like the convincing theory I heard that it was dogs who domesticated humans, rather than the other way around.