This new legislation, which comes into effect on the 6th of April 2020, means that kittens (and puppies) cannot be sold by online dealers, pet shops or other third parties, unless they have bred the animals themselves.

Why is this important?

Most people who buy cats from breeders, pet shops or online dealers are unaware of the suffering that occurs behind the scenes. These online dealers and pet shops often prey on the uninformed public to make a profit from animal abuse. Many of these breeders are just kitten mills who keep cats in filthy cages for their entire lives, solely for the purpose of producing multiple litters of kittens. These kittens are then taken from their mothers at just a few weeks’ old, which causes lifelong socialisation issues for the kittens, as well as a number of preventable diseases.

How does Lucy’s law help?

Lucy’s law will ensure that kittens are born and reared in a safe environment with their mother, and can only be sold from their place of birth.

While Lucy’s Law is a step in the right direction, it still does not stop people from exploiting animals for profit. So we urge you to never buy an animal from a breeder or a pet shop. Instead, you can save a life by adopting.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/gove-delivers-lucys-law-to-protect-puppies-and-kittens

Why is adopting good?

For every kitten sold by a breeder, a kitten in desperate need of a home loses his or her chance of being adopted. There are countless homeless domestic cats in the UK, through no fault of their own, but simply because there are too many cats and too few good homes.