Last week, we handed in a petition to 10 Downing Street signed by 103,919 people - this sends a clear message that the British public want a #BetterDealForAnimals. We later also attended an event in Westminster with MP’s showing their support for the bill.

Animal sentience is currently enshrined in UK law under Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty. This recognises animals as sentient beings, aware of their feelings and emotions, however due to the current political situation, animals are at risk of losing these vital legal protections, after October 31st. 

Starting on Valentine’s Day this year, we joined with other animal protection and environmental organisations - including Wildlife & Countryside LINK, Humane Society International UK and Animal Equality UK – and asked MP’s and the British public to ‘show some love for animals’ by signing the government petition. We urged MP’s to support a law that creates a duty for all Ministers in the UK to fully regard animal welfare in policy making. 

Once a government petition reaches 100,000 signatures, this ensures a debate in parliament. Unfortunately, this debate was originally planned for Monday 9th September but has been postponed until November*. Nevertheless, it was great to hear from Zac Goldsmith MP, minister for animal welfare, at last week’s event that he will do everything he can to get this bill through as soon as there is an opportunity to do so.

We will keep you updated on news regarding the sentience bill and the upcoming debate in parliament, which is likely to be around November. In the meantime, we would like to say a huge THANK YOU to everybody who signed the petition calling for animal sentience to be recognised under UK law. We will keep working to push this through.

#FOURPAWSUKblog

* true at the time of writing (10.09.19) although subject to change.