Animal sentience

That this House welcomes the Government’s commitment to explicitly recognise in domestic law that animals are sentient beings, and create a statutory duty to pay due regard to the welfare of sentient animals in policy formulation and implementation; recognises that Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty regarding animal sentience was not converted into UK law by the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018; and calls on the Government to urgently introduce legislation transposing Article 13 of the Lisbon Treaty to all policy areas, make it applicable to all public bodies, and ensure the full protection of animals in future policy with a transparent, accountable and independent implementation process.