A committed supporter of animal welfare, Caroline served as an honorary Vice-Chairman of the RSPCA. This enabled her to work with them on a number of national campaigns and join the local inspector on her rounds in Gosport. She fully supports the increase in the maximum sentence that animal abusers who commit the most heinous crimes can receive.
Caroline actively backs the Hunting Ban and is committed to opposing any amendments that would weaken the ban. As a supporter of the League Against Cruel Sports and Conservatives Against Fox Hunting, she has worked hard to ensure this cruel practice remains outlawed, and was even chosen as rockstar Brian May's 'Hero of 2010' for her work in this area.
The Government has made significant strides to strengthen its animal welfare standards which is something that Caroline has, and will continue, to support. This includes the world leading Ivory Bill, helping to protect elephants for future generations, tight regulations on the importation of fur products and ‘Finn’s Law’ which offers stronger protection for the many brave service animals that help to protect us.
Other key actions that Caroline backs includes the ban on third party sales of puppies and kittens and mandatory CCTV in all slaughterhouses.
Caroline is aware of the pressing need to protect our marine habitats. That is why she is delighted that plans have been set out to create 41 new Marine Conservation Zones across the UK, safeguarding almost 12,000 square kilometres of marine habitats and marking the most significant expansion of the UK's 'Blue Belt' of protected areas to date. Our local seas also fall under Marine Protection Areas.
