Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of dogs being brought illegally into the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK carries out more checks of pets at the border than most other EU Member States and penalties are in place where people are found to be breaking the rules.
The purpose of the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) is to facilitate the travel into the EU and between Member States of owners with their pets, whilst protecting the country from risks to animal and public health.
Some commercial operators have abused the PETS to traffic underage puppies into Great Britain, using falsified pet passports to conceal the animals’ true ages and appropriate action is taken.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is working in partnership with Dogs Trust, enforcement bodies and transport carriers to identify non-compliant animals destined for Dover and Folkestone ports. This partnership began in December 2015 resulting in 720 puppies being seized and placed into quarantine.
Puppy buyers are sometimes misled into purchasing an illegally imported puppy they believe to be domestically bred. Defra has published guidance for owners on buying a pet. This contains guidelines such as buying from a reputable supplier and viewing the animal and its documentation, and also highlights the trade in illegal imports. Defra also works closely with the Pet Advertising Advisory Group to drive up standards for online advertisements and make potential pet owners and website operators more aware of rogue dealers.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessments (a) his Department and (b) Public Health England have made of air quality in the area of the Lancaster Estate, North Kensington, London, since the fire at Grenfell Tower; and in what ways the results of those assessments have been communicated to local residents.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Public Health England (PHE) has been assessing and monitoring air quality in the area surrounding Grenfell Tower (Lancaster West Estate) since the start of the fire on 14 June. Results to date have not detected elevated levels of pollutants of concern, therefore, current evidence suggests the risk to public health from air pollution remains low.
The results of the monitoring are published weekly on the PHE website (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-monitoring-following-the-grenfell-tower-fire) and publication is announced on Twitter when the latest report goes live. Details of these reports are included on a regular basis in the residents’ newsletter which is published by the Grenfell Response Team. Representatives from PHE have also attended a number of community meetings to explain the air quality monitoring and answer any queries from local people.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with relevant authorities in (a) Lithuania, (b) Hungary, (c) Poland and (d) Romania on abuse of the Pet Travel Scheme and illegal importation of puppies into Great Britain.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) discussed welfare of domestic animals in trade at the recent EU Chief Veterinary Officer’s Working Group meeting attended by all Member States on 25 October 2017. The UK CVO supported a proposal to review the existing compliance and enforcement measures of Pet Travel Scheme rules. He advised that there are many issues that drive misuse of scheme rules and enforcement is hindered by the difficulty of verifying the age of puppies at 15 weeks, opening the door to fraud.
A further discussion is planned for the EU Chief Veterinary Officer’s Working Group meeting in December 2017. The UK Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer will present findings of our targeted monitoring at ports and invite an exchange of experiences from other Member States.
Additionally, the UK CVO and Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer have had informal discussions with a number of the EU Member States on abuse of the Pet Travel Scheme. In 2016, the CVO wrote to authorities in Hungary and Poland advising that puppies from those countries, not compliant with the EU travel legislation, had been discovered in the UK. He requested an update on investigations taken in the light of the information provided.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Summary of badger control monitoring during 2014 published by her Department on 18 December 2014, on what scientific evidence and advice the Chief Veterinary Officer based his conclusion that the pilot badger culls in Somerset show that culling can deliver the level of effectiveness required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits.
Answered by George Eustice
The Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) reviewed all of the effectiveness and humaneness data available from the second year of the badger culls, which were published on 18 December 2014. The level of badger removal in Somerset was assessed against the minimum number to be removed, which was published along with the methodology on 26 August 2014. The CVO also reviewed the level of effort deployed by the cull company and concluded that the cull had been implemented thoroughly across the full area of accessible land.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what criteria she evaluates the humaneness of badger culls.
Answered by George Eustice
Our key criterion for humaneness remains the accuracy of shooting. The Independent Expert Panel suggested that the threshold for humaneness of controlled shooting is a time to death of less than five minutes from time of shooting. Field observations in both 2013 and 2014 indicated a very high likelihood of a time to death of less than 5 minutes in retrieved badgers. The likelihood of suffering in badgers is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other culling activities currently accepted by society have been assessed.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many racehorses were killed outright or destroyed during or shortly after a race meeting on each British racecourse in (a) flat racing, (b) all-weather racing and (c) National Hunt racing in 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
This data is not held by Government. Statistical data on numbers of horse fatalities is held by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). However, statistics for fatalities for 2014 are not yet available.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of cats (a) killed and (b) injured by firearms in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not hold information on the numbers of cats shot by firearms. However, this information may be held by each police force.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to reduce the number of fatal shootings of cats; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government considers that animal cruelty is abhorrent. In addition to strict firearms legislation governing the possession carrying and use of guns, it is already an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal. All such incidents should be reported to the police who have the necessary powers to investigate.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) broiler chickens, (b) laying hens, (c) cattle, (d) sheep, (e) pigs and (f) other farmed animals died prior to slaughter as a result of (i) fires, (ii) flooding, (iii) exposure to extreme weather, (iv) road crashes, (v) disease and (vi) injury in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra does not record this information centrally, but mortality data is recorded at individual farm level. The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 requires that all farmed animals must be inspected at least once a day. The number of mortalities found at each inspection has to be recorded and must be made available to an inspector on request.
Asked by: Chris Williamson (Independent - Derby North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to oblige farms to put in place contingency and evacuation plans to minimise the risk of farm fires to animals.
Answered by George Eustice
All livestock farms need to have an on-farm health and welfare plan drawn up in conjunction with their veterinary surgeon which include contingency plans to deal with emergency situations, such as fire, floods or disruption of supplies. Defra’s species specific Codes of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock, which all stock keepers have to have access to and knowledge of, sets out advice on making emergency precautions.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the UK legislation and Defra’s welfare codes are being followed.