Policy paper

Government response to the Animal Sentience Committee's assessment of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

Response to the Animal Sentience Committee’s assessment on whether the government has fully considered the welfare of animals as sentient beings in relation to the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 13 January 2026
• Last updated: 21 January 2026 — See all updates

Documents

Government response to Animal Sentience Committee: Assessment of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6095-2, E03494024 12/25

Unnumbered act paper

HTML

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Government response to Animal Sentience Committee: Assessment of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6095-2

Unnumbered act paper

PDF, 1020 KB, 8 pages

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Details

This report is a response to the assessment and recommendations made in the Animal Sentience Committee: Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill.

The Animal Sentience Committee is an independent committee of experts that was established by the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. It is hosted by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). 

The Committee helps Parliament consider how ministerial decisions take the welfare of sentient animals into account. The Committee has a statutory ability to produce reports for Parliament and following publication of a report, the relevant Secretary of State has a statutory duty to lay a response before Parliament within 3 months.

Published 13 January 2026

Last updated 21 January 2026 + show all updates

1. 21 January 2026

   Added the PDF print version.

2. 13 January 2026

   First published.