Parliament to debate hedgehog protection petition
The BHPS has announced that hedgehogs are now vulnerable to extinction in the UK.
A petition calling for greater legal protection of hedgehogs is to be debated by parliament on 5 July 2021. The petition gained over 100,000 signatures, and can be read here.
Created by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), the petition calls on the Government to move hedgehogs to schedule five of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, which will allow them greater protection.
The petition comes after the BHPS announced that hedgehogs have now been classed as vulnerable to extinction in the UK in July 2020. Various reasons for this vulnerable include: loss of nesting and foraging habitat; lack of connectivity between hedgerows and fencing; and hedgehog death on roads, with statistics suggesting that 335,000 hedgehogs are killed on British roads annually.
As the BHPS has noted, the petition became even more relevant recently as the 2021 7th Quinquennial Review seeks to change the eligibility criteria of the hedgehog, proposing that the country-based statutory nature conservation bodies will only retain protected status for species that are in imminent danger of extinction in Great Britain.
The effect of these changes would mean that the current minor level of protection afforded to hedgehogs will be completely removed, with the changes making it legal to sell hedgehogs, and removes the protection for hedgehogs from killing and injury.
In a comment on the petition (available to read here) the government responded, “There are currently no plans to give hedgehogs further legal protection. An evidence-based review of Schedule 5 of the Act is in progress and we will consider any recommendations arising from this.”
Any members of the public concerned about hedgehog welfare are being encouraged by the BHPS to contact their MP ahead of the debate, asking them to attend the debate and support the petition. They have provided suggested wording, and have asked supporters to contact their MP before 5 July, and their advice can be found at britishhedgehogs.org.uk/call-to-action
The debate will be held on Monday, 5 July, from 4.30pm to 6pm, and will be broadcast online.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
