New animal welfare legislation now in force

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 are now in force in England to strengthen animal welfare and tackle problems around puppy sales and dishonest breeders.
The new legislation introduces a star rating system which scores dog breeders, pet shops and other licensed activities involving animals on welfare and other grounds out of five, which is intended to help buyers only use the best breeders available and at the same time facilitating local authorities to audit those with low scores. The law ensures that breeders show puppies alongside their mother before a sale is made, and bans licensed sellers from dealing in puppies and kittens younger than 8 weeks old. Regulations are also tightened under this new legislation so that puppy sales are completed in the presence of the new owner, which will stop online sales where prospective buyers have not seen the animal first. Adverts are also regulated and audited now, including those online, so that licensed seller of all pets include the seller’s licence number, country of origin and country of residence of the pet in the advert.
David Rutley, animal welfare minister, said: “These regulations will end mistreatment and malpractice of puppies, and crack down on unscrupulous breeders so pet owners will have no doubt their new dogs have had the right start in life.”