China could finally ban the eating of dog meat ahead of the barbaric Yulin Festival (Image: GETTY) China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has officially announced dogs are pets and not livestock (Image: GETTY)Animal charity Humane Society International (HSI) welcomed the decision and called for an end to the Yulin Festival.

Photograph: Jacob King/PA The Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, said notification from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that travel regulations for pets would remain the same during the Brexit transition period was only received after entries had closed on 20 January.

A petition (“Stop Pet Crematoria Passing Off Mixed Ash as One Pet Cremations”) started by Lars B Andersen is, quite simply, calling on the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to ensure that pets’ ashes are not mixed with the remains of other animals and labelled ‘one-pet’ cremations.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “Neither Natural England nor Defra have received any credible reports of wild living or breeding big cats in Britain in recent years.