Following public consultation, Shadow Secretary for DEFRA, Sue Hayman, will today unveil the party’s 50-point Animal Welfare Manifesto for government.
Labour will announce radical action to strengthen animal welfare law, promote the highest level of care for domestic animals, improve welfare for animals used in sport and research and increase efforts to protect wild and marine animals.
New policies in the manifesto include:
Banning trophy hunting imports.
Banning pet primates.
The inclusion of wild animals in the increase in maximum sentencing for animal cruelty.
Banning the sale and use of snares and glue traps.
Working with international partners to stop the return of commercial whaling.
Banning electric pulse fishing.
Reviewing the use of the whip in horse racing.
The manifesto also reiterates Labour’s commitment to strengthening the Hunting Act, ending the badger cull, giving tenants the right to keep pets, enshrining animal sentience in law and ending the live export of animals for slaughter.
For rural communities, the manifesto will seek to guarantee and improve on animal welfare in farming as we leave the EU, such as tackling livestock worrying, building on best practice that many British farmers are already implementing.
The party will also appoint an Animal Welfare Commissioner to ensure animal welfare standards are always considered in new legislation and maintained in Britain’s involvement in international bodies and post-Brexit trade deals.
Building on the 2018 draft Animal Welfare 50-point plan, Labour consulted widely with Labour party members, stakeholders and the general public to bring together a grassroots animal welfare agenda for government.
Commenting on the manifesto, Sue Hayman MP said:
“Consulting with members and animal rights organisations means that our policies are not campaigns of the month like the Tories, but thought through and comprehensive measures that will bring Britain’s animal welfare policy into the 21st century.
“This suite of policies on animal welfare seeks to build upon the long standing leadership of the Labour Party on the issue of animal welfare. From bringing forward the landmark Hunting Act to protecting the treatment of domestic animals under the Animal Welfare Act, Labour has always placed the welfare of animals high on the policy agenda.
“Labour will ensure that we have a comprehensive legislative agenda in place to make sure that the UK has animal rights protections equal to or better than anywhere in the world.”
