Petition · past parliament · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Keep the puppy import age at 15 weeks
Closed
888 signatures
What the petition asks
There is a new proposed law that would increase the minimum age for importing puppies to the UK to 6 months old.
We would like to keep the current law in place allowing them to be imported at 15 weeks.
I run a charity called The Pack Project that rehomes dogs mainly from Romania.
We would like to keep the current law in place allowing them to be imported at 15 weeks.
I run a charity called The Pack Project that rehomes dogs mainly from Romania.
A dog’s key development window is 0-16 weeks.
The new proposal for puppies not to be allowed to be imported until 6 months old will cause unnecessary suffering and detrimental development to puppies in rescue centres outside of the UK.
We have seen first hand how challenging puppies find adapting to life when they arrive aged 6-11 months and how much easier puppies aged 4-5 months find the same situation.
We support efforts to reduce ‘puppy smuggling’ but this should not be one of them.
The new proposal for puppies not to be allowed to be imported until 6 months old will cause unnecessary suffering and detrimental development to puppies in rescue centres outside of the UK.
We have seen first hand how challenging puppies find adapting to life when they arrive aged 6-11 months and how much easier puppies aged 4-5 months find the same situation.
We support efforts to reduce ‘puppy smuggling’ but this should not be one of them.
Timeline
| 24 Aug 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 24 Feb 2022 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
888
Status
Closed
Department
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Opened
24 Aug 2021
Closed
24 Feb 2022
Follow this petition
Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.
Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.