Lucy's Law came into effect on Monday 6 April 2020 in England. The legislation aims to tackle the low-welfare, inhumane puppy farming in the UK, by banning their commercial third-party sale.

However, the Law has not yet been passed in Wales. 

As just one of the loopholes to avoid the Lucy’s Law regulations in England, companies are registering their businesses in Wales. This means that puppies and kittens are still being put under cruel and appalling conditions and advertised as “luxurious” commodities.

It is impossible to trace the origin of many of the animals being sold, however it is known that a large majority of puppies are being shipped in from Russia. Many foreign puppy farms keep nursing mothers in appalling conditions – cramped cages stacked on top of each other, covered in their own urine and faeces.

Marc Abraham, the founder of Lucy’s Law, has commented upon the travel these animals have to endure, often when they are too young to do so. He said, “Once they are travelling, they are under unbelievable stress which makes them excrete and defecate more, which in turn transmit diseases to each other.”

Between the journey to the UK and the over-breeding on the farms themselves, we are witnessing an influx of extremely sick and mistreated animals.

This issue has recently been brought to light in the world of social media once again when a puppy died just six days after reaching his new owners. The autopsy of the puppy, named ‘Mr Chai’, showed that “his skull wasn’t fully developed and part of his brain was exposed. He didn’t have a single white blood cell in his body”.

The company who sold ‘Mr Chai’, have a registered pet shop license in Wales, despite being located in the North West of England.

The seller has been to court before, after selling a puppy with a metal splint in his leg but advertising him as a “perfect example of the breed”.

Whilst there are many more loopholes than this being exploited, I believe that Wales should set an example and follow suit in implementing Lucy’s Law, as a first point of call to tackling this animal welfare crisis.

 Please add your support to this campaign and stop the needless suffering of these poor animals.

You can read more about Lucy’s Law here.

#LucysLawCymru #LucysLawInWales #WheresMum #AdoptDontShop