PETITIONOpenPetition · petition.parliament.uk
Ban purchasing & owning African Pygmy Hedgehogs
We want the Government to protect African Pygmy Hedgehogs by outlawing their purchase and ownership. European wild hedgehogs enjoy legal protections to ensure that they are living in a safe environment.
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
111
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 111/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 111/100,000
Background
Many people are purchasing African Pygmy Hedgehogs from retailers to keep as domestic pets in enclosures which we believe are too small for them to be considered humane. Hedgehogs are nocturnal and are generally afraid of humans. We believe owning them as pets and keeping the hedgehogs in an environment where they are forcibly interacted with, and kept awake, by humans is beyond cruel. European hedgehogs are protected as a species, we want the same for their cousins, the African Pygmy.