§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to require operators of animal sanctuaries to be licensed. [97505]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienIt is not Government policy at this time to seek to license the operators of animal sanctuaries, and there are no plans to change that. Animals in sanctuaries have the same protection against cruelty—afforded principally by the Protection of Animals Act 1911—as those in other privately run establishments. It is not considered that there is sufficient evidence of problems with sanctuaries across the country to warrant additional introduction of a statutory licensing regime.