Ban the exploitative import of young puppies for sale in the UK.
The Parliament petitions site records 128,552 signatures for this petition, which closed on 27 December 2020. The Government responded on 8 September 2020. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Ban the exploitative import of young puppies for sale in the UK.
Plenty of dogs from UK breeders & rescues need homes. Transporting young pups long distances is often stressful, before being sold for ridiculous prices to unsuspecting dog-lovers. Government must adjust current laws, ban this unethical activity on welfare grounds & protect these poor animals ASAP.
The recent tragic case of a puppy dying just 6 days after being delivered from Russia has exposed a completely legal but immoral route to market for pups bred hundreds of miles away & sold away from their mums. Who’s actually inspecting these breeders & transportation conditions? Selling imported pups like this is cruel & appears to contradict the Government’s own advice to always physically “see puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth” as with Lucy’s Law in England.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 8 September 2020; the petitions site lists the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as responsible. Its summary:
The Government works to ensure regulations protecting the welfare of transported animals is followed while also educating potential pet buyers of the risks of buying from a deceitful seller.
The opening 309 words of the 454-word response:
The Government takes the issue surrounding the importation of pets very seriously and continues to ensure that the illegal import of puppies is stopped and that puppies brought into the UK through legal means receive a high standard of care.
The rules concerning the commercial transportation of animals are set out in Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and in domestic legislation, The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 (WATEO). The EU legislation aims to protect the welfare of animals during transportation and applies to animals transported in connection with an economic activity.
Under article 4 of The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006, there are some general provisions for the protection of all animals during transport. It is an offence to transport animals, including people transporting dogs, in a way that will cause injury or unnecessary suffering. Animals must be transported in a means of transport which takes in to consideration the conditions required for the animals such as space, ventilation, temperature, security, liquid and oxygen needs.
The primary responsibility for the enforcement of the transport legislation rests with Local Authorities. Local Authorities carry out routine welfare checks on animals and their means of transport and will take appropriate enforcement measures up to and including prosecution if required.
Our policy is to ensure, therefore, full application of existing EU rules on our territory during the Transition Period, and to encourage other member states to do the same. Unilaterally banning the import of puppies would amount to a restriction on trade which would need strong justification under World Trade Organisation rules and whilst we remain in the transition period, is not possible under EU trade law. Following the end of the Transition period we will explore options to combat the trade in young puppies which are consistent with World Trade Organisation rules.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 445, came from Rayleigh and Wickford.
127,386 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,166 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Rayleigh and Wickford | 445 |
| Rochford and Southend East | 402 |
| Saffron Walden | 395 |
| Knowsley | 391 |
| Arundel and South Downs | 369 |
| Horsham | 357 |
| Garston and Halewood | 356 |
| Brentwood and Ongar | 336 |
| Chelmsford | 336 |
| Surrey Heath | 318 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South East | 20,545 |
| North West | 15,311 |
| East of England | 14,332 |
| London | 12,122 |
| South West | 11,706 |
| West Midlands | 10,004 |
| East Midlands | 8,902 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 8,849 |
| Scotland | 7,953 |
| Wales | 7,002 |
| North East | 4,451 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,149 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 7 June 2021. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/326261.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
a2fb449513cdd90d… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.