Animal-loving backbenchers are trying to breathe new life into welfare legislation that the government quietly abandoned last year.
The 2019 Conservative election manifesto included plans to ban trophy hunting imports, live animal exports and crack down on puppy trafficking.
Three lawmakers are currently trying to enact some of these policies into law.
Labor MP John Spellar has sponsored a Private Members’ Bill (PMB) to ban trophy hunting.
Two Conservative MPs, Selaine Saxby and Anna Firth, have separately launched PMBs to ban live animal exports and criminalize pet abduction.
The two measures were originally included in the Breeding of Animals Bill but were abandoned by the government over concerns it could be used to force a vote on hunting – an issue that deeply divides the Conservative Party.
On Wednesday, Ms Saxby tabled a PMB that would restrict the import of dogs, cats and ferrets.
Ms Fells also introduced a PMB that would specifically criminalize the kidnapping of cats, dogs and other common pets.
Without government support, PMBs rarely become law because they do not have enough time dedicated to government business.
The government has been under pressure to invest time in developing new legislation to fulfill its manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies into the UK.
Every year, British hunters travel abroad, often to southern Africa, and pay thousands of pounds to legally shoot animals such as lions and elephants.
Under current rules, they can bring trophies, such as stuffed heads or horns, back to the UK as long as they have the correct documentation.
The measures had been anticipated by government legislation, but ministers instead backed the PMB proposed by Conservative MP Henry Smith during the last parliamentary session.
It passed the Commons easily but ran out of time as it faced opposition in the Lords.
PMB time is allocated by lottery – 20 MPs are randomly selected to have the opportunity to debate their bill on one of seven Fridays set aside for this purpose.
The top seven members of Congress will receive priority for these debate seats.
Julie Elliott, the Labor MP for Sunderland Central, won first place in the vote to gain first priority. Her project management committee seeks to level the playing field in the banking industry by modernizing rules that currently limit building societies’ ability to lend.
