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Government changes law to protect kittens

15 January 2017
Government changes law to protect kittens

The government has pledged to change the law in order to protect kittens.

Labour MP Rob Marris has been fighting tooth and claw to prevent young cats from being exploited.  This means there will be more protection for felines who are at risk of being bred in unfit conditions and taken from their mothers too soon.

He managed to convince the government to agree to change the law to protect kittens from exploitative breeding and sales.
The government agreed to close the loophole which lets kittens be sold without a license.

This means some license exemptions related to the breeding of pedigree kittens will be removed under new proposals.
Following questioning from Mr Marris, minister George Eustice has now agreed to “propose remove the licence exemptions … for those in the business of selling either pedigree animals that have been bred by them, or the offspring of an animal that has been kept by them as a pet – for instance, the offspring of their non-pedigree pet cat.”

Rob Marris commented: “Too many kittens are bred in poor conditions and taken away from their mothers prematurely, all for the sake of a fast buck. I am delighted that the government has stated that it intends to put animal welfare first by protecting all kittens from exploitation. I will be pressing the government to include strict conditions for licences to breed kittens, so that bad behaviour is stopped.”

Cats Protection has said the organisation is "thrilled" that the welfare of kittens is being fought for in government.