Antrim and Newtownabbey Council questions DAERA’s kitten register plan

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has raised concerns about the potential introduction of a kitten register, warning of “enforcement and practical challenges”.

In a draft response to a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) consultation on the sale and supply of puppies and kittens in Northern Ireland, the council suggested that a centralised puppy register should be managed by DAERA or animal charities rather than individual councils.

The draft response also stated that while the council supports welfare-based sale conditions and exemptions for registered charities and council pounds, it highlighted financial and resource implications for local authorities.

It further expressed concern about the risk of “criminalising responsible owners” if the proposals are introduced as drafted.

The consultation, which has now closed to the public but is still accepting responses from local councils, outlines plans for a registration system for anyone selling, giving away, or transferring ownership of puppies and kittens under six months old. It also proposes ending third-party sales of these animals.

If implemented, councils may be required to operate the registration system and enforce the scheme.

DAERA is proposing that those wishing to sell, give away, or transfer ownership of puppies or kittens under six months old must apply to their local council to be entered onto a new register of sellers and suppliers.

A DAERA spokesperson said:

“The Department wishes to afford a high degree of protections for puppies and kittens that are sold or supplied in Northern Ireland. To do this, the Department wishes to deliver a version of ‘Lucy’s Law’, which includes measures that would not only ban third-party sales of puppies and kittens but would also make new rules for all people who decide to sell, give away, or otherwise transfer ownership of a puppy.”

‘Lucy’s Law’, already in place in England, requires anyone wanting to buy a new puppy or kitten to purchase directly from a breeder or adopt from a rescue centre.

Licensed dog breeders must also show puppies interacting with their mothers in their place of birth. The law is named after Lucy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel rescued from a puppy farm.

A report presented to councillors stated:

“DAERA’s proposals would ban third-party sales and require anyone selling, giving away or transferring puppies or kittens under six months old to register with their local council.

“Statutory conditions would include restrictions on premature separation from the mother and a requirement that sales take place only at premises where the animals and their biological mother are kept.

“Third-party sales occur when the seller has not bred the animal but has obtained it from a breeder for onward sale.”

At a meeting of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council at Mossley Mill on Tuesday evening (August 26), Macedon Ulster Unionist Councillor Robert Foster proposed responding to the consultation on an individual or party basis.

His proposal was seconded by Macedon DUP Councillor Matthew Brady.