Castle Point MP Dame Rebecca Harris has introduced the Pets (Microchips) Bill to Parliament as the next step in the campaign to boost animal welfare and better protect pets.
The Pets (Microchips) Bill proposes that no healthy or treatable pet can be euthanised by a vet without having its microchip scanned or without the permission of its registered owner first. The Bill will now have its Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on 24th January 2025.
With Rebecca’s assistance, this legislation was previously introduced by former Conservative MP James Daly and received significant cross-party support, before running out of parliamentary time. Rebecca is aiming to build on this important work and is hopeful that it will become law in this new Parliament.
Dame Rebecca is also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group to discuss dog-related legislation. In the last Parliament, Rebecca served as the Private Members’ Bill Government Whip. This ensured legislation such as the Pet Abduction Act to make pet abduction a specific criminal offence, the Animal Welfare (Penalty Notices) Act which raises penalties for animal welfare offences to £5,000 and the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act extending the maximum animal cruelty offence to five years imprisonment passed through Parliament and became law.
Dame Rebecca said: “No pet should be put down without checking with the rightful owner and if there are other options for it to lead a healthy life in a different home. Also, threats to euthanise dogs have been used as tools of coercion in domestic abuse cases which is utterly despicable. That is why I am introducing the Pets Microchips Bill to give peace of mind to every dog owner that their beloved pets will never be put down without their consent.”
Dame Rebecca has long supported that this law be introduced, after meeting her constituent Dawn Ashley and campaigner Sue Williams who raised the story of Tuk, a five-week-old Mioritic shepherd mistakenly identified as a stray and euthanised by a vet who failed to scan his original chip.
Reacting to the Bill, campaigner Dawn Ashley said: “We were absolutely thrilled and very proud to see Rebecca Harris present our Private Members Bill in Westminster. Rebecca has been a long term supporter of ours and we are looking forward to working beside her to bring legislation into force to prevent any more unnecessary euthanasia of healthy or treatable rescue dogs and companion animals.”
Sue added: “Tuk’s memory lives on in all we do that is listened to and we will forever be thankful for that. Even if this does not become law, we are saving dogs, bulldogs and we have secured rescue cases, so there is always something to do. Me and Dawn have been working in rescue for a decade. We need this to be the law to start with but we aren’t going anywhere and will continue to campaign.”
