Consultation outcome

Banning commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England

This consultation has concluded

Download the full outcome

Detail of outcome

We received 6,854 responses to this consultation, the overwhelming majority of which supported the government’s proposal to ban commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens.

We’ll proceed with the ban when parliamentary time allows, and will continue to engage with stakeholders on the proposal to licence rescue and rehoming organisations.


Original consultation

Summary

Seeking views on plans to introduce a ban on the commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

We want to know what you think about plans to introduce a ban on the commercial third-party sales of puppies and kittens in England.

This will prevent pet shops, pet dealers, and other outlets from selling these animals in England unless they themselves have bred them.

We expect that this ban will improve welfare conditions for cats and dogs that are under six months old.

Published 22 August 2018
Last updated 29 January 2019 + show all updates
  1. Replaced the summary of responses with an updated version to correct a missing respondent "Dog Breeding Reform Group" in the list of respondents on page 30.

  2. Replaced the summary of responses document with a corrected one. The change corrects an incorrect figure in paragraph 94 on page 23, the average cost of a puppy should be £702.35 not £705.63.

  3. Summary of responses and way forward added.

  4. First published.