The government has promised to end dog breeding and a possible ban on the use of electric shock collars for dogs as part of a new animal welfare strategy launched by the government on Monday.
The strategy – which combines new laws, reforms and legislative proposals – will also make progress Labour’s manifesto pledged to ban rural hunting.
The RSPCA has welcomed plans to ban the breeding of miniature dogs, but the Countryside Alliance has condemned the ban on hunting as “yet another attack on the countryside”.
Environment Minister Emma Reynolds told the BBC there would be a consultation on banning fox hunting, which is “sometimes used as a smokescreen” for illegal fox hunting.
Puppy farming is the term used when breeders prioritize profit over the health and welfare of the animal, often keeping large numbers of dogs in small pens and using them to produce several litters per year.
Current dog breeding practices will be overhauled to address the breeding of dogs as part of what the government calls “the biggest animal welfare reforms in a generation”.
However, the entire strategy will not be delivered until the end of 2030.
David Bowles, head of public affairs at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), said the animal welfare charity was “delighted” with the strategy, and added that plans to ban the breeding of small dogs “could be a real game-changer”.
“Puppy farming is one of the most insidious problems faced by the RSPCA.
“The government will need to write legislation for this next year and the RSPCA will work with them to make sure there are no loopholes,” he said.
The government is also looking to ban the use of traps in the countryside, and confirmed on Sunday it would hold a consultation on the proposed ban on hunting in the new year.
Trail hunting involves the use of a naturally scented cloth to lay a trail before the hunt, which the hounds then follow but the pack may pick up the scents of live animals instead.
The Foreign Secretary told the BBC that although Labor had banned fox hunting in 2004, “we have seen people trying to get around that ban by using fox hunting in some cases.”
“This is clearly also an enforcement issue, it’s not just legislation, but we are determined to move forward, which is why the hunting ban is in the animal welfare strategy,” she said.
“We know that it is sometimes used as a smokescreen for fox hunting.”
But Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said it was “incredible” that the government would spend more parliamentary time on hunting.
“Revisiting this senseless and divisive issue is completely unnecessary,” he said.
“People across the countryside will be shocked that after Labour’s attack on family farms and its neglect of rural communities, it believes banning hunting and trapping used to control foxes is a political priority.”
Conservative Party leader Kevin Hollinrake described the ban as “an attack on rural Britain and British culture”, accusing the government of “punishing the law-abiding majority who support legal hunting”.
The government is also looking to end the use of “confinement systems” in farming including caged hens and pig farrowing boxes, which are used to contain pigs during birth and lactation.
The use of slow-growing chickens will be promoted over the use of controversial so-called “Franken chickens”, a term used by animal welfare activists to describe fast-growing breeds.
Anthony Field, UK president of Compassion in Global Farming, said the government was “raising the bar on farm animal welfare”.
The National Swine Association said it would “closely follow next steps” for pig trusts, and is itself looking forward to more flexible regulations.
The BBC has contacted the British Poultry Council for comment.