(Photo by Kenneth Schipper Vera on Unsplash)

Hello to all who care about animals! I have created this petition to urge The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) minister Victoria Prentis to commit to passing animal sentience legislation in time to protect UK animals after Dec 31st 2020.

World Animal Protection has reported that at the parliamentary debate of March 16, 2020, (DEFRA) Minister Victoria Prentis failed to commit to passing this legislation into law before the end of the year, when EU law will no longer protect UK animals. Such legislation importantly recognizes that animals are capable of feeling pain and suffering, and without it they can be cruelly mistreated and exploited as objects even more than they already are. The failure to legally recognize animal sentience in time would fly in the face of constant UK government pledges that it would pass such law before the end of the Brexit transition period.

If UK government fails to do so before the 31 December 2020, legal protections afforded to animals from EU law will no longer apply from 1 January 2021 and animals will be left unprotected in the UK. The UK would then take a huge, unacceptable step backward in terms of animal welfare, and we cannot allow this to happen.

Please sign this petition to urge DEFRA minister Victoria Prentis to commit to passing this legislation in time. Thank you!