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Kennel Club welcomes commitments to tackle puppy smuggling
Imported puppies are often bred in unsanitary conditions and transported across great distances without space to move.
Legislation will restrict puppy and dog imports on welfare grounds

The Kennel Club has hailed new government commitments to tackle puppy smuggling as “an important step forwards for animal welfare”.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, announced on Monday (8 June), includes legislation that will restrict puppy and dog imports on welfare grounds, such as increasing the minimum age of imported puppies and restricting imports of dogs with cropped ears. 

The Kennel Club has long campaigned against the unethical trade of puppy smuggling and its devastating consequences. Imported puppies are often bred in unsanitary conditions and travel great distances without enough food, water or space to move.

Dr Ed Hayes, head of public affairs at The Kennel Club, said: "With the suffering caught up in the illegal import trade, and unscrupulous importers greedily rushing to fill the gap during the pandemic puppy boom, the new commitments and measures from the government to crack down on this are absolutely essential. 

“The Kennel Club has also always been against ear cropping, leading the ban in the UK over 100 years ago, so the steps outlined to restrict the import of dogs with cropped ears are an important step forwards for animal welfare.”

Dr Hayes also welcomed reforms on sheep worrying, that will give new powers to the police to provide greater protection to livestock from dangerous and out of control dogs. 

“With more people enjoying the great outdoors during the pandemic, alongside the reported increase in dog ownership, it’s crucial that everyone understands their responsibilities and there is clear messaging and laws to ensure the safety of people, animals and the environment,” he said. 

“We look forward to seeing further details and working with DEFRA and MPs to finalise this important and wide-ranging bill, for the sake of the nation’s much-loved pets.”

 

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RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

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CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.