Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) by what date he expects the Greyhound Board of Great Britain to begin publishing summary statistics for the number of dogs that leave the industry each year and (b) what details those statistics will include.
Answered by George Eustice
As set out during Defra’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, the Government expects the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) to begin publishing from early next year annual aggregate injury and euthanasia statistics from GBGB tracks, and annual summary statistics for the number of GBGB registered greyhounds that leave the sport. The figures will cover the preceding calendar year and, for dogs that leave the sport each year, the details will include by what method. The GBGB will begin publishing both sets of figures by the end of March 2018. Access to anonymized track injury and euthanasia data will be considered by GBGB’s Welfare Standing Committee and Defra for bona fide research purposes.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) by what date he expects the Greyhound Board of Great Britain to begin publishing aggregate injury and euthanasia figures and (b) what period that data will cover.
Answered by George Eustice
As set out during Defra’s Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010, the Government expects the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) to begin publishing from early next year annual aggregate injury and euthanasia statistics from GBGB tracks, and annual summary statistics for the number of GBGB registered greyhounds that leave the sport. The figures will cover the preceding calendar year and, for dogs that leave the sport each year, the details will include by what method. The GBGB will begin publishing both sets of figures by the end of March 2018. Access to anonymized track injury and euthanasia data will be considered by GBGB’s Welfare Standing Committee and Defra for bona fide research purposes.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the Greyhound Board of Great Britain to fulfil its agreement to develop a Publicly Available Specification for trainers’ kennels and to extend its UK Accreditation Service to include the enforcement of those new standards.
Answered by George Eustice
A Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for greyhound trainers’ residential kennels was published by the British Standards Institution on 12 December 2017. The PAS has been sponsored by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB) and has been drafted with input from animal welfare groups, veterinarians, the industry and Defra. GBGB are currently beginning the process of extending their current UK Accreditation Service accreditation to include enforcement of the standards contained in the PAS. This process can take between 12 to 18 months.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on a non-regulatory agreement with independent greyhound racing tracks to allow anonymised, aggregate injury and euthanasia statistics from those tracks to be published.
Answered by George Eustice
Prior to seeking any agreements with independent greyhound racing tracks, Defra has undertaken research and is currently assisting with further research sponsored by the Dogs Trust and the RSPCA into the profile and practices of independent greyhound tracks and the trainers that use them. There are currently three independent tracks operating in England.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for the drafting of the legislative proposals on increasing the maximum sentence for animal cruelty to five years imprisonment; and whether the Government plans to consult with animal welfare organisations on those proposals.
Answered by George Eustice
As announced on 30 September, draft legislation to increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty to five years will be published for consultation around the turn of the year. We will welcome comments from animal welfare charities who have campaigned for this change.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consignments of dogs were exported from the UK to (a) EU and (b) non-EU countries in 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
80 consignments of dogs were exported from Great Britain to the EU during 2016 with individual health certificates, under the Balai Directive. This figure does not include those which moved under the pet travel scheme.
3886 consignments of dogs were exported from Great Britain to non-EU countries during 2016.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 July 2016 to Question 42492, on Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011, when her Department will begin the five-year review of those regulations.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra began its review of the Trade in Animals and Related Products (TARP) Regulations 2011 with formal and informal consultation with customers in October 2015. We now anticipate completion in Spring 2017.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2017 to Question 67006 on bovine tuberculosis: dogs, whether her Department has carried out any research on diseases in packs of hunting dogs.
Answered by George Eustice
Bovine TB is a notifiable disease in all farmed and pet mammal species, including dogs. The disease has only very rarely been diagnosed in dogs, in this country and elsewhere, and investigations into bovine TB breakdowns in cattle herds have never identified the source of a breakdown as an infected dog.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2017 to Question 62238, on Pets: Imports, for what reasons the number of dogs reported as entering the UK non-commercially under the Pet Travel Scheme increased between 2015 and 2016.
Answered by George Eustice
There has been a marked increase in popularity of the Pet Travel Scheme in GB. In 2014 APHA issued 80,274 new pet passports to their official veterinarians, 119,704 in 2015 and 95,449 in 2016.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons her Department decided not to require Animal and Plant Health Advisory officers to deter illegal imports of puppies into the UK control zone in Coquelles, Calais.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government takes the illegal importation of puppies seriously and does put in place deterrents to the illegal import of puppies into the United Kingdom Control Zone at Coquelles. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is responsible for ensuring there are effective controls to prevent illegal movements into the Control Zone. APHA require approved carriers, in the case of Coquelles, Eurotunnel, to check 100% of animals travelling under the Pet Travel Scheme for compliance before they are permitted to enter the Control Zone. There is a formal agreement in place which details how Eurotunnel must carry out this function.
APHA has always carried out periodic inspections in the Control Zone to ensure that the carrier company’s checks are effective. Our approach to these pet animal checks and compliance monitoring has not changed. In addition APHA has also worked with carriers on specific intelligence led operations to identify and seize illegally imported puppies. APHA works with all carriers approved to transport pet animals and is currently in discussion on proposals to strengthen the effectiveness of the checks they are required to carry out.