ACTION TO TACKLE EAR CROPPING OF DOGS AND SHARK FINNING NEEDS TO BE TOUGHER

In a debate on animal welfare, I spoke on the need to do more to tackle the cruel and horrific practices of ear cropping of dogs and shark finning.

The mutilation involved in cropping dogs’ ears for aesthetic reasons is illegal in the UK and the EU. However the RSPCA has reported a 621% increase in the number of cases between 2015 and 2019. Legal loopholes allow the selling of ear-cropped dogs and the importation of dogs with cropped ears from abroad, which undermines attempts to tackle this incredibly painful and distressing procedure. Under this cover, ear cropping in the UK continues.

We need action to close these loopholes which would allow for much more robust enforcement action against those who crop dogs’ ears in the UK and work for a global ban of this cruelty.

Another area of concern is shark finning, the practice where sharks’ fins are sliced off and the rest of the shark is discarded back into the ocean, where it dies a slow and painful death. This is another horrifying procedure which is also extremely dangerous to our environment, given the rapid decline in the size of the global shark population which, in turn, threatens to destabilise the marine environment. We must ban imports of shark fins and all shark fin products and tackle global trading of such products.

You can watch my speech below.