MPs back move to protect llamas and alpacas from dog attacks
Dog owners already face a fine if their pet attacks or worries farm animals listed in the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, such as cattle, sheep, pigs and horses.
But after a Commons debate, MPs have agreed to add 'camelids' to this list, giving llamas and alpacas in England and Wales similar protections as they have in Scotland.
The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill, which now faces further scrutiny in the Lords at a later date, will also see unlimited fines rolled out in dog attack cases, lifting a £1,000 cap.
'They're no laughing matter, alpacas and llamas,' Labour MP Peter Lamb said.
'The Inca empire never developed the wheel.
'The entirety of that empire was built off the back of alpacas and llamas and, as a result, they are an animal that's worthy of great respect.'
Mr Lamb said he had heard of 'pretty harrowing cases of what happened to that livestock' at a centre in Tilgate Park in Crawley, West Sussex, where he was the borough council leader.
'In one case, a sheep was just literally set on fire whilst still alive and while the Bill does not directly deal with that, I think some of the mentality that goes into disrespecting these animals is worthy of note,' he said.
'But what we have done is very often, far more often than that, had dogs set on these animals, or at least, people have not been in control of these.
'And we've eventually had to remove the sheep entirely from the publicly accessible areas on the basis of that.'
Conservative MP for Chester South and Eddisbury Aphra Brandreth, who proposed the private member's Bill, told the Commons: 'Livestock worrying, as we know, has devastating consequences for both animals and farmers.'
She added: 'The damage of a livestock attack can be horrific, causing brutal injuries which are tragically often fatal.
'There are instances of stress causing pregnant livestock to miscarry, and separation of mothers and young leading to hypothermia or starvation.
'I've seen pictures from farmers in my constituency where attacks have mutilated their calves beyond any hope of keeping them alive.
'The consequences, no matter what the scale of an attack, are profound.'
As part of the draft new law, authorities would get the powers to treat attacking livestock as separate to 'worrying', which includes chasing farm animals in a way which could cause injury, suffering or loss or 'diminution in their produce'.
The Bill would also expand the 1953 Act's scope, which applies on agricultural land, to roads and paths, where animals might be herded.
Labour MP Mike Reader praised Ms Brandreth for her 'responsible and balanced approach'.
The Northampton South MP said it was 'positive that this expands that definition to roads and paths, because it sets clear requirements that when someone is accessing land, particularly throughout Northamptonshire where there're so many paths that run through farmland, there's a clear definition in the law to both protect farmers but also to set clear boundaries for those who are perhaps walking their dogs… when they access farmland'.
Environment minister Emma Hardy said the Government was 'fully committed to supporting this important Bill as it progresses through the other place', before the Bill cleared the Commons at third reading.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Starmer accused of ‘abject failure' as people smuggling arrests fall under Labour
People smuggling arrests by the UK's organised crime agency have fallen under Labour, despite Sir Keir Starmer 's pledge to "smash the gangs", as the number of small boat migrants arriving since he took charge soars past 50,000. The latest National Crime Agency (NCA) data shows 192 people were arrested for organised immigration crime in the year to April – down 16 per cent from 229 under the Tory government the previous year. Labour has faced growing criticism over its failure to cut the number of people making the perilous crossing, with education minister Baroness Jacqui Smith admitting the figures were 'unacceptable'. Former Tory immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the latest arrest figures proved 'it's never been easier to be a people smuggler', while former home secretary Chris Philp said they proved Starmer's big talk about smashing the gangs has been an 'abject failure'. It comes as the government ramps up its efforts to tackle the issue amid growing public anger, which has sparked a series of violent protests outside migrant hotels across the country. The prime minister has adopted a hardline approach on immigration, with a string of new measures announced, as he tries to win back voters and fend off the surge in popularity from Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Earlier this year, Yvette Cooper announced an extra £100m to tackle people-smuggling gangs, including 300 more staff at the NCA ' focused on intelligence targeting crime gang members'. And last week, Sir Keir confirmed that the first migrants had been detained under the new 'one in, one out' swap deal between the UK and France – although none have yet been sent back to Europe. The Home Office has also expanded its 'deport now, appeal later' scheme, which sees foreign criminals deported before their appeals have been heard. Despite the fall in people smuggling arrests last year, the NCA said it has "dedicated more resources than ever before' to tackling the threat from organised immigration crime. NCA acting deputy director Dan Barcroft said: 'Arrests on their own are not the only way to judge impact. We have also achieved record numbers of disruptions against people smugglers – 347 last year, up almost a third - each of which will have removed, prevented or reduced a criminal threat.' 'Arrest figures may fluctuate, but over the last four years the NCA has been involved in more than 900 arrests relating to organised immigration crime in the UK and overseas.' The Home Office told The Independent that further people smuggling arrests have been made by Immigration Enforcement and police forces, but refused to share any details. A spokesman said: 'We are taking firm and targeted action to dismantle the organised criminal networks responsible for dangerous small boat crossings – networks that put vulnerable lives at risk and undermine border security.' Reacting to the figures, Mr Jenrick said: 'Starmer said he'd smash the gangs but arrests of people smugglers are down and record numbers of migrants have crossed this year. For all of Starmer's talk, it's never been easier to be a people smuggler.' A Labour MP on the right of the party told The Independent they were 'frustrated' by the government's pace of action. They said: 'The public think we're basically not doing anything and don't believe smashing the gangs will make any material difference. And so far, their suspicions are being borne out by the facts. We have to move heaven and earth to get and show we have control.' Over the past decade, the NCA has been involved in over 2,200 arrests linked to immigration crime in the UK and overseas, with a 93 per cent conviction rate. While the figures do not exclusively cover small boat migration, a large proportion of such crimes involve bringing people across the Channel. This includes arrests across the people smuggling operations chain, from those who supply small boats to lorry drivers illegally ferrying migrants. The NCA told The Independent it is currently leading 91 investigations into organised immigration crime. Despite lower arrest numbers, the NCA said its increased disruptions 'reflect a move towards taking the fight to gangs upstream, focusing on the highest harm networks, and hitting them where the impact on their business will be greater'. One such example last month saw the NCA and Bulgarian law enforcement seize 25 inflatable boats set for use by people smugglers crossing the Channel. Sunder Kutwala, director at the British Future thinktank, said the government's best shot at tackling the problem is to scale up the one-in-one-out deal with France to 500 or 1,000 people a week. 'If [people smuggling] is a lucrative business, and the barriers to entry are pretty low and the cost of getting your dinghy slashed is quite low – or getting low-level operatives arrested is low – you'll always get new entries to the market' he told The Independent. 'The government has now got a shot at establishing the returns deal and, with enforcement, it looks more viable than any of these offshoring models [like Rwanda]. If I was the government, I would [scale up] quickly not slowly.' The number of migrants crossing into the UK by small boats is up 47 per cent from the same time last year, at record levels. Fourteen people have already died this year trying to cross into the UK, with the highest on record (73) last year, and a woman, 30, died on Monday while trying to board a boat attempting to make the crossing to the UK from Dunkirk. The Mayor of Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete, said that the situation "can't stand much longer". He called for the creation of a "legal immigration route to the UK" saying "our coastline is a daily witness to an absurd, ineffective and terribly cruel management of the migration crisis".
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Firework control zones confirmed for parts of Glasgow
Fireworks will be banned in parts of Glasgow this November as the city introduces control zones for the first new rules will affect Govanhill, Pollokshields and Broomhouse from 1-10 November, banning people from setting off fireworks on private or public land - including gardens - during that is hoped the move will boost safety, cut disturbances and shield vulnerable residents and animals from loud noises, after years of debate surrounding the negative impact of fireworks. A number of applications for other zones elsewhere in the city were rejected. A ban had been intended to be introduced in Pollockshields last year, due to the area being heavily affected by trouble around Bonfire Glasgow City Council missed the deadline to issue a notification and the ban could not go ahead. Pollokshields councillor Jon Molyneux welcomed the move going ahead in the Molyneux, who has been campaigning for a citywide ban, said: "After a deeply disappointing 'false start' last year it is good that a fireworks control zone is going ahead in Pollokshields, as well as in Govanhill and Broomhouse."It is vital that these restrictions are well-communicated so people know the rules and the consequences of breaking them. It is also important that they are part of a wider package of measures to prevent people misusing Central councillor Soryia Siddique was also in said the local community council in Govanhill had raised concerns, along with local residents there. Edinburgh became the first local authority to outlaw fireworks in August 2024, in response to constant anti-social decision to introduce firework control zones in the three neighbourhoods was taken following the consideration of consultation responses by a panel made up of Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and council taken into account included incidents reported as well as other intelligence. A consultation found there was "overwhelming support" for the zones in Broomhouse and were rejected for Woodlands Park, Gartcraig, Crossmyloof, Robroyston, Drumchapel, Ibrox, Yoker and North Kelvin. Story by Local Democracy reporter Sarah Hilley.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
No, Kemi Badenoch – housing asylum seekers in tents won't solve our immigration problem
Kemi Badenoch might say that she was 'only asking a question' when she said, at a meeting with protesters against an asylum hotel in Epping: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' But it wouldn't be a good idea. While the answer is yes – it is technically possible to build tent villages away from population centres to house those applying for refugee status – these camps would always be close to somewhere. Badenoch's question is an example of the politics of 'far away' that has always afflicted thinking about asylum-seekers. Even Tony Blair considered a detention camp on the island of Mull, which seems empty and far away from London – but people live there, too, and in the end he decided that he was also only asking a question. He also thought about using the Falklands for an asylum processing centre, and the last Conservative government went through Ascension Island and St Helena before finally devising a scheme that was the ultimate 'far away', to deport arrivals to Rwanda without even considering their applications for asylum. And Rwanda only ever had the capacity to take a few hundred migrants, which would have been insignificant against the 50,000 that have arrived by small boat in little more than a year of the Labour government. While the cross-Channel traffic is high, putting asylum-seekers 'somewhere else' does not solve the problem. Nor would processing asylum claims more quickly – although that would end the need for hotels, because migrants accepted as refugees or granted leave to remain would be allowed to work and would be able to support themselves. But that would not solve the problem of the small boats continuing to arrive, which is what is so damaging to people's confidence that the government is in control of immigration. That is the problem that Badenoch ought to be addressing, instead of talking vaguely of 'camps'. Indeed, what is notable about the reporting of the psychologically significant 50,000-mark being passed is how little the condemnation of the Labour government for 'losing control of our borders' is matched by practical suggestions for regaining control of them. This is not surprising in Badenoch's case, because it was the previous government that lost control of the sea border in the first place – as Jacqui Smith, who was Labour's minister for the media round this morning, fairly pointed out. The Conservative case against Labour rests on two flimsy arguments. One is that Labour cancelled the Rwanda scheme, which was 'just about to work'. The other is that Badenoch is edging towards repudiating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Neither is convincing. The Rwanda scheme was just about to work in the sense that I am just about to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was always too small to deter cross-Channel arrivals: if they are willing to risk their lives to get here, they would be willing to take the tiny risk of removal to Rwanda. And ditching the ECHR would not make much difference to the numbers of failed asylum-seekers who could be removed from the UK. What is more important for Keir Starmer, however, is the threat from Nigel Farage. His 'solution' to the small boats problem is no more credible than the Tories', but it is not undermined by having recently been in government and unable to do anything about it. Farage's policy is to detain and deport all illegal migrants – although his manifesto last year did not say where, how or even if the countries to which they should be sent would take them. In practice, he proposes indefinite detention in prison camps, location unknown. Meanwhile, Reform's policy is that 'migrants in small boats will be picked up and taken back to France'. What if the French retaliate by taking them off the quay and taking them to the UK? Farage has no answer. But he doesn't need one, because he hasn't failed – yet. That is why it is so important to Starmer that his plan to return migrants to France – by agreement – succeeds. Education minister Jacqui Smith was right this morning to say the Labour government had inherited a problem from the Tories that was not 'our fault', and she was honest enough to admit that it is a problem that, 'up to this point, we haven't managed to tackle in terms of the numbers who are coming here'. The Labour government has a possible solution. If it can increase the numbers on the 'one in, one out' scheme so that all or nearly all arrivals are sent back to France, the small boats will stop coming. But will take time. And time and patience are running out.
