My hon. Friend is a fantastic advocate for animals and for the people in her constituency, and I am grateful that she secured this debate. I want to thank all my constituents who have written to me to advocate for animals. We are clearly a nation of animal lovers. Last year, I wrote to the Government to request a ban on barbaric electric-shock collars and to raise concerns about the Warwickshire hunt and the damage it does to local wildlife. Does my hon. Friend agree that the animal welfare strategy will tackle those concerns, and that we must do all we can to protect our precious animals?
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, who I know is a big animal lover herself—we certainly have that in common—that the welfare strategy will tackle those concerns. I will address some of those points later in my speech.
We have a moral duty to safeguard animal welfare, and most people agree with us, so I warmly welcome the Labour Government’s recent animal welfare strategy. What a wonderful Christmas present it was for so many of us. The strategy sets out clear ambitions, to be achieved by 2030, on improving the lives of companion animals, wild animals, farmed animals and animals overseas. It commits to addressing loopholes around breeding, to banning snare traps, to delivering on our manifesto commitment to ban trail hunting and to introduce standards for the humane killing of fish.
2) Sam Niblett
I share the Government’s concerns about the welfare implications of e-collars, and I support positive, reward-based training as the preferred approach. Later in this Parliament, we will consult on whether to ban e-collars, following the example already set in Wales.
3)Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Labour)
My time is limited, so I will cover just a few points. The Government have proposed a consultation on banning electric-shock collars but, sadly, there is no firm commitment and there are further delays. I want to see an immediate ban on the use and sale of electric-shock collars for pets.
4) Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Labour)
I am also fortunate in my patch to have people who feel passionately about this just on a personal level and write to me about all sorts of things, some of which we have discussed today, whether it is banning electric-shock collars for pets, ending the cruel use of snare traps, or banning illegal puppy and kitten smuggling—I was pleased to support the law on that that passed last year.
5) Cat Eccles (Stourbridge) (Labour)
Another significant concern, which other Members have mentioned, is that we have only committed to a future consultation on electric-shock collars. There was already a consultation in 2018, which was fairly conclusive.* We do not need another consultation: we need an immediate ban on cruel electric-shock collars.
*THE 2018 CONSULTATION INTO ELECTRONIC TRAINING COLLARS REVEALED THAT 64% OF RESPONDENTS DID NOT SUPPORT A BAN.
6) Dame Angela Eagle (The Minister for Food Securityand Rural Affairs
We will consult on a ban on the use of electric-shock collars due to the possible harm those devices cause to our pets. I hear what hon. Gentlemen and hon. Ladies on both sides of the House have said about that ban, and the firm view that we should have one. We just want to check through the consultation that nothing significant has changed since the last one was done in 2018, and we will act on the results. Alongside that, we will continue to promote responsible dog ownership to protect public safety and we are looking forward to seeing the recommendations from the reconvened dog ownership taskforce.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-01-21/debates/AnEC63BF37-555F-4ADB-94BD-266E8208D610/AnimalWelfareStrategyForEngland#main-content
