It was announced yesterday in the UK Mirror newspaper that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ditched the Animals Abroad Bill, which would have delivered on his promise to have the toughest laws in the world on gruesome souvenirs, such as lion heads and zebra skins.
If true, this is neither surprising nor unexpected.
For several reasons.
1. As part of its Animal Welfare Action Plan the Government had proposed a new Animals Abroad Bill to tackle animal cruelty, and support conservation efforts, overseas. The Bill would have included bans on the trade in hunting trophies that threaten the conservation status of species abroad, and the domestic sale and advertising of experiences overseas, like elephant rides, that are cruel to animals.
2. The Animals Abroad Bill was much more than a ban on hunting trophy imports. Also, there was confusion and uncertainty about what belonged in the Animal Sentience Bill (a grab bag to ban the export of live animal exports for slaughter and fattening, prohibit keeping primates as pets, feelings of animals including lobsters and fish, new laws to tackle puppy smuggling, giving the police more powers to protect farm animals from dangerous or out of control dogs, considering bans on imports of foie gras, etc) and the Animals Abroad Bill.
3. One would have assumed that the UK government and MPs would have constructed fine-tuned legislation instead of putting together a long and overlapping list of issues in the Animal Sentience Bill and the Animals Abroad Bill. By making the proposed Bills sound like a week’s shopping list rather than what was needed for a single meal, the proposed bills almost automatically became too cumbersome and all-inclusive to warrant any consideration by Parliament.
4. Perhaps these proposed bills need a reset, refinement, and then resurrection. It should be noted that even the Ivory Bill that jumped though many hoops and across barriers and was finally given Royal Assent – has not been implemented after many years.
It is true that the UK Government has been largely reluctant to construct and pass any trophy hunting import ban. We as LionAid should know after being prime movers to achieve two parliamentary adjournment debates, having had direct meetings with many ministers and scores of members of parliament, and having received endless promises and assurances. Delivering public protests on the streets, urging constituents to write their MPs, delivering the amazing results of one of the most successful petition campaigns on any wildlife issue … and still the Westminster pipes are blocked and no plumber is on the horizon.
Regardless of public opinion polls and a call for input on the issue by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that overwhelmingly called for trophy hunting imports to be banned – there is dither and delay. When the UK left the EU, noises were made that “world class” animal welfare regulations could now be implemented. Instead, there is a vacuum. The EU maintains strict regulations on the trophy hunting imports of trophies of lions, polar bears, elephants, rhinos… they have not been matched with anything in the UK. The USA demands trophy imports are regulated by clear conservation benefits for the species involved – the UK has no such matching regulations.
If the trophy hunting import ban promises made by the Tory Party in several manifestos and a recent Queen’s Speech are to be realized, much more is required. Proposed bills need to be trimmed down, formulated and focused better and implemented rapidly rather than being allowed, once again, to moulder away in endless postponement and procrastination. Britain can do better.
PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS PETITION WIDELY. It's more important than ever that we pile on the pressure from the public. We need to get to one million signatures as soon as possible.
We will continue to push hard for this much promised ban to be implemented. Future lion survival may well depend on it.