Proposed laws for ‘tougher powers’ to prevent illegal cat and dog smuggling and protect animals from ear-cropping and declawing are a step closer to fruition. The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill passed committee stage on May 14 having been introduced by Liberal Democrat MP and vet Dr Danny Chambers, and sponsored by Selaine Saxby, the then-Conservative MP for North Devon, in March last year. It is hoped the legislation will make it harder for smugglers to pass off dogs and cats for sale as personal pets by reducing the number of animals that can enter the UK under its national Pet Travel Scheme from five per person to five per vehicle or three per foot or air passenger. Under the new laws, pet travel would also have to take place within five days of their owner. The minimum age for imported puppies or kittens is also to be raised from 15 weeks to six months to protect them from long stressful journeys while so young and when it risks permanently affecting their personality. If enacted as law, the bill would also ban the importation of heavily pregnant dogs and cats or animals with cropped ears, docked tails or that have been declawed. Introducing the bill last year under the previous Conservative Government, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) branded ear-cropping - a painful process in which a dog’s outer ears are surgically altered or removed to make them look more aggressive - as ‘inhumane’. Although illegal in the UK since 2006, existing law leaves a loophole for dogs with cropped ears to be imported, thereby leaving a loophole to be exploited. Welcoming the bill last year, Paula Boyden, veterinary director at the national Dogs Trust charity, said: “Dogs Trust has been campaigning for tougher laws around the illegal importation of dogs for over 10 years, during which time we have cared for more than 3,000 puppies caught up in this abhorrent trade. “This bill will offer protection to countless dogs and puppies to prevent them suffering at the hands of smugglers. “We are delighted that, once passed, it will be illegal to import dogs with brutal mutilations, prevent heavily pregnant dogs from being smuggled in cramped and squalid conditions, and make sure puppies are not exploited by raising the age at which they can be imported to six months.” The bill is still in its early stages and now passes to report stage for review.