CAPTIVE BREEDING OF ENDANGERED SPECIES

Early day motion 1140, tabled 9 November 2000 by Ian Cawsey (Labour). Signed by 47 members.

That this House condemns the international trade in bear bile, which involves the keeping and breeding of Asiatic bears in Asian bear farms, where conditions are extremely cruel and totally unsuitable, and which would be unacceptable in the UK; condemns the captivity and international trade in whales and dolphins, which subject animals to unacceptable conditions and high mortality; notes that the Plants and Animals Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is meeting in the USA in December to discuss, amongst other issues, the registration of captive breeding facilities for endangered species and the trade therein; and calls on the United Kingdom Government to ensure that they adopt a precautionary approach at all times in order to prevent the possibility of the backdoor legalisation of these cruel and unsustainable international trades.

Signatures by party: Labour 37, Liberal Democrat 4, Conservative 2, Labour/Co-operative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UKUP 1, Unknown 1.