24 ANNUAL REVIEW 2022
TOGETHER FOR ANIMAL WELFARE
Helping animals from
war-torn Ukraine
Many people who fled Ukraine brought
their beloved pets too - we stepped in
to keep them together.
We didn't want traumatised pet owners to have
the added heartbreak of losing their pets, so we
worked with other animal welfare charities and
the UK Government to help refugees enter the
UK with their pets. One of our animal centres
became an isolation unit for cats and dogs, to
eliminate the risk of diseases such as rabies.
"We couldn't have left home without our cats
- they're part of our family," said Maryna
Gruzdieva when she collected Princess and
Barsik from the centre.
Kept Animals Bill
After dragging its feet for 18 months,
the Westminster Government has
scrapped this Bill, while countless
animals continue to suffer.
When the Westminster
Government proposed
its Animal Welfare (Kept
Animals Bill) back in 2021,
we thought cruel practices
- such as exporting
live animals for further
fattening or slaughter,
keeping primates as pets and the puppy import
trade - were to be banned. But, in May 2023,
it decided to use the less secure mechanism of
Private Members' Bills, where individual MPs take
Bills forward. Now we're concerned Westminster
may drop its pledge on live animal transport
altogether. We made sure our supporters knew
about this threat in 2022 and encouraged them
to contact their MPs. At the time of writing, the
government is only delivering on its promise to
ban the keeping of primates as pets, but we will
continue campaigning in 2023 to get all the issues
agreed as soon as possible.
Animals
continue
to suffer