Animals lovers in Northern Ireland will get the chance to ask candidates from the main political parties what they would do to improve pet welfare in Northern Ireland, if elected.
The Stand up for Northern Ireland’s Animals campaign will be holding a virtual hustings on Tuesday (12 April).
The campaign is a joint initiative by The Northern Ireland Companion Animal Welfare Group (NICAWG) which is made up of USPCA, Dogs Trust, Cats Protection, PDSA, Mid Antrim Animal Sanctuary and Assisi.
The campaign is being run ahead of the 2022 Northern Ireland elections, and urges candidates to pledge to stand up for Northern Ireland’s animals, if elected to the Assembly.
Alliance’s Cllr Patrick Brown, Peter Weir from DUP, the Green’s Rachel Woods and Sinn Fein’s Philip McGuigan will take part in a virtual hustings event and answer questions from the public and NICAWG member organisations.
A Lucidtalk poll commissioned by NICAWG to coincide with the launch of The Stand Up For Northern Ireland’s Animals campaign has revealed that 93% of Northern Ireland’s pet owners want to see a clampdown on illegal breeding and transportation of puppies.
NICAWG member organisations have continually raised concerns about a lack of enforcement of the dog breeding regulations in Northern Ireland, a problem only exacerbated with the increase in puppies sales over the pandemic.
Animal Welfare is an area devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and MLAs will know how strongly their constituents feel about protecting and improving animal welfare.
The poll also showed that 71% of the voters wanted to see greater regulation of the online sale of puppies and kittens to ban the sale of puppies and kittens from anywhere that is not where they were bred.
If you would like to register to attend the husting event, please visit @NICAWGroup’s twitter page for the link and webinar instructions. To see if your local candidates have pledged search for the #StandupforNIAnimals on twitter.
(Join link here: https://t.co/T4StKjgcea)