Lucy's Law

Lucy's Law is a regulation which limits the sale of puppies and kittens as pets in England.

Marc Abraham's book, published just before the law took effect in April 2020.[1]

It is named after a spaniel called Lucy who was used for breeding on a puppy farm in South Wales from where it was taken in 2013 by the Many Tears animal rescue organisation. Lucy had many ailments but was adopted by Lisa Garner who campaigned with vet Marc Abraham to prevent further maltreatment of such dogs.[2]

To address this issue, an amendment to the existing licensing regulations was passed into law in May 2019 by Michael Gove.[3] The instrument was the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019.[4] The law came into effect in April 2020, with licensed commercial traders no longer allowed to sell kittens or puppies as pets if they were less than six months old and they had not been bred by the seller.[5][6]

Even though Lucy had been maltreated in Wales, where there were many puppy farms, the regulations only applied to England. This was because animal welfare regulations were devolved to the National Assembly for Wales.[7][8]

References
  1. Katie Mansfield (24 December 2019), "Mirror Books signs puppy farming campaign tale", The Bookseller
  2. "Ex-Puppy Farm Lucy The Rescue Cavalier Is True Animal Hero", Pets Mag, 8 September 2016
  3. Lucy's Law: Puppy farm ban set to be confirmed, BBC, 13 May 2019
  4. "The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019", UK Statutory Instruments 2019 No. 1093
  5. Sarah Young (6 April 2020), "Lucy's Law", The Independent
  6. Roop Bhinder; Marc Casale; David Rutley (2019), Explanatory Memorandum to the Animal Welfare (licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2019 (PDF), GOV.UK
  7. Lucy's Law: Delay bringing in puppy farms law in Wales criticised, BBC, 24 December 2019
  8. Andrew Penman (19 December 2019), "Welsh Government accused of dragging its feet over Lucy's Law while dogs suffer England will introduce law to stop puppy farmers, so why won't Wales?", Daily Mirror

Further reading
  • Marc Abraham (6 March 2020), Lucy's Law: The story of a little dog who changed the world, Mirror Books
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