Our lobbying activity

BVA welcomes Government commitment to reform of the Veterinary Surgeons Act

BVA welcomed the Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner, MPs, Peers and stakeholders to the annual London Dinner held in Westminster on 26 February 2025. In her speech, BVA President Dr. Elizabeth Mullineaux welcomed the Government’s ongoing engagement with the profession over the urgent need to reform the ‘outdated’ Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. She also called for regulation of practices, recognition of allied professionals and legal protection for the veterinary nurse title.

Speaking on behalf of the Government, Minister Zeichner 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.”

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.

We’re pleased to be part of a core working group formed by Defra, alongside key organisations including RCVS, BVNA and VSC, 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.

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.

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.

Briefing MPs and Peers on 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. We used this opportunity to ask attendees to urge the Government to find a solution to ensure continued access to veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland after the grace period comes to an end in December 2025.

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.