Our lobbying activity

Engaging with Defra on Veterinary Surgeons Act reform

We’ve been calling for urgent reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966, as this key piece of legislation is not fit for purpose.

At our London Dinner on 26 February 2025, Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner confirmed the Government’s commitment to reforming this legislation. He said: “I think each [BVA] dinner I've been to, the Veterinary Surgeons Act has come up. We absolutely understand it. We’re engaging with you and with the other stakeholders from the RCVS, the BVNA, the Vet Schools Council, to look at how we can go about reforming the VSA and that core working group is looking at how changes to policy can support the profession, animals and consumer in a future facing and future proof way.”

We’re pleased to be part of Defra’s core working group looking at how changes to policy can support the profession, animals, and consumers in a future-proof way. This group recognises the importance of making changes to the veterinary surgeons’ act together to have the best opportunity of getting effective legislation for the future of the profession.

We are working to ensure veterinary surgeons are protected by any new legislation, and that key areas such as regulation of practices, recognition of allied professionals and legal protection for the veterinary nurse title are included.

Influencing the EU-UK veterinary agreement

Following the publication of our policy positions on a EU-UK veterinary agreement, and access to veterinary medicines in NI, we organised a briefing session for MPs and Peers in the House of Commons in February 2025. The event was sponsored by Robin Swann MP,  and attended by MPs and Lords including Lord Elliott, Danny Chambers MP and Baroness Foster.

On 19 May, the UK Government announced a SPS agreement with the EU. The details of the agreement are yet to be negotiated but a Common Understanding Document has been made published.

We welcomed the announcement of the agreement, which aims to introduce dynamic alignment between the EU and UK, allowing for greater trade whilst maintaining animal welfare and biosecurity.  We continue to liaise with Defra as well as other relevant Government agencies to obtain and influence the details of the agreement as they are negotiated.

Lobbying for Animal Welfare legislation 

We’re actively supporting the following pieces of legislation:

• Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill: we’re working with Vet and MP Danny Chambers to progress this important bill which could help end puppy smuggling, ban imports of animals with mutilations, and help prevent disease such as Brucella canis from being imported. Help us make this happen — download our template letter and urge your MP to support the Bill.
• Fireworks Bill: BVA has long advocated for tighter controls on the use and sale of fireworks to protect the health and welfare of animals in the UK. We’re part of the Fireworks Coalition organised by Dog’s Trust, working to inform the drafting of the Bill and support its progress.
• Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill: We support this bill which will better protect the welfare of farmed animals. It includes vital updates to the existing legislation such as clarity on what constitutes ‘worrying’, and the expansion of police powers and sanctions against irresponsible dog owners.
• Parliamentary debate on cages for farmed animals: Following the publication of our policy position on farrowing crates, we sent a briefing to MPs ahead of a debate in Parliament, and Minister Zeichner echoed our calls for a phase out of farrowing crates with an appropriate transition period. 

We were disappointed that proposed bill on the Electric shock collars did not pass into law before the General Election, and will continue to call for progress on this issues.

Calling for animal welfare to be protected in trade deals

We’re calling for a minimum set of standards for all UK trade deals which will safeguard our high animal welfare standards and prevent the UK market from being flooded with produce farmed under conditions we would never accept in this country.

Following the Government's announcement that a trade deal was being negotiated with Gulf countries, BVA wrote to Minister Alexander raising concerns about the potential negative implications of the deal to animal health and welfare; and seeking assurance that the UK’s standards will be maintained, including pre-stun slaughter. 

We welcome the recent UK Trade strategy document which states the Government's commitment not to lower food standards and to uphold high animal welfare ones.

Lobbying for improved Dangerous Dog control

In recognition that Breed Specific Legislation does not work to decrease the number of people bitten or attacked by dogs, we continue to work with the Dangerous Dogs Coalition (DCC) to lobby for significant reform of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to produce breed neutral legislation that focuses on responsible breeding and ownership, early intervention and better enforcement.

Over the past year much of our work has focussed on the XL Bully bans being implemented across the UK, during which we have been engaging regularly with Defra, the Scottish Government, and DAERA, both as a member of the DCC and separately, to provide a veterinary perspective. Through our campaigning, we have continually aimed to mitigate impacts on vets and veterinary practices and have been successful in advocating for improvements in the language used within neutering confirmation forms and establishing that vets are not responsible for typing dogs.

Government action

Under the previous Government, we were proud to support several successful pieces of legislation for animal welfare:

• Primates as pets: we had long called for action to be taken to protect primates being kept as pets in the UK and welcomed the Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2023 being signed into law in 2023.
• Livestock exports: we briefed Lords and peers as the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill progressed into law. We welcomed the ban on live exports and are now calling for a wider review of standards for welfare during transport.
• Pet abduction: we supported this bill which recognises the potential impact pet theft has on owners and animal welfare.

We welcomed the Labour Party's commitment to prioritise the highest standards of animal welfare in international trade deals, negotiate a veterinary agreement with the EU to reduce border checks, and promote greater environmental sustainability. We are working to ensure the Government acts on these pledges, through meetings, letters and parliamentary events.