Cat and dog theft will be a criminal offence from August

Animal welfare groups have expressed concern that two other bills have run out of time in this Parliament.

A bill put forward by the Conservative MP Selaine Saxby, which would have raised the minimum age at which a puppy can be brought into the country, is one of those which has been lost.

Harriet Main, public affairs manager for the RSPCA, said that ” legal loopholes” had been “abused for many years by people making quick cash from the exploitation of animals” and said the charity would be calling on the next UK government to ensure this issue was put “straight back on the agenda”.

The former Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, now a backbench MP, had brought forward a bill which would have given the police greater powers to prosecute dog owners for attacks on farm animals in England and Wales.

“Livestock worrying”, which can include barking, chasing, biting, and killing, is already illegal.

But the National Sheep Association’s chief executive Phil Stocker says convictions are difficult.

Mr Stocker said the decision was “disappointing” but hoped it would turn out to be “a delay rather than a fail” as he said both Labour and the Conservatives shared “concerns over the damage that can be done by domestic dogs on livestock”.