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 recent estimate she has made of the number of abandoned or neglected horses.
Answered by George Eustice
No recent estimate has been made, however estimates published by horse welfare charities in 2014 suggested there might be up to 3,500 horses a year in England. The Animals Act 1971 was amended earlier this year to make it easier to deal with abandoned or fly-grazing horses 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, whether her Department plans to produce an action plan on wildlife crime in the UK modelled on the plan recently announced at EU level.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Coalition Government published The UK Commitment to Action on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014 and reported on progress against these commitments in March 2015. In March, the UK also reported on its progress against the London Declaration on Illegal Wildlife Trade and agreed new urgent measures to tackle the trade at the Kasane Conference in Botswana. This Government remains committed to working with our international partners to tackle wildlife crime, both at home and overseas, and will work closely with the Commission as it develops its action plan on illegal wildlife trade.
In the UK, the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) helps in tackling wildlife crime by analysing and disseminating intelligence and assisting law enforcement agencies directly in carrying out wildlife crime investigations. The Government is part-funding the NWCU until March 2016.
Where wildlife crime is sufficiently serious, the specialist capabilities of the National Crime Agency can be accessed. Border Force also plays a leading role, delivering risk-based anti-smuggling controls at the border.
The Government also helps tackle wildlife crime through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW), a multi-agency body comprising representatives of the Government and voluntary bodies with an interest in combating wildlife crime.
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 dogs entered the UK from each country for (a) non-commercial purposes under the Pet Travel Scheme and (b) commercial purposes under the Balai Directive 92/45/EEC in 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The information requested is attached.
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 (a) licensed dog breeders and (b) pet shops licensed to sell puppies there are in the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
Numbers of licensed dog breeders and pet shops are not recorded centrally but are held separately by each local authority. According to a 2014 survey submitted to Defra by an animal welfare organisation, there are between 50-70 pet shops selling cats and dogs.
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 people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under section 2 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1871 in England in 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under Section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, in England in 2014, can be viewed in the below table.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of selected offences related to dogs legislation, England, 2014 (1)(2)
Legislation | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
Section 3(1) Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 | 1,163 | 878 |
Section 2 Dogs Act 1871 | 59 | 10 |
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
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 people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 in England in 2014.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under Section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and Section 2 of the Dogs Act 1871, in England in 2014, can be viewed in the below table.
Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of selected offences related to dogs legislation, England, 2014 (1)(2)
Legislation | Proceeded against | Found guilty |
Section 3(1) Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 | 1,163 | 878 |
Section 2 Dogs Act 1871 | 59 | 10 |
(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.
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, if she will publish the most recent update of the tentative timeline for possible use of a vaccine against bovine TB in the EU as set out by the EU Commissioners in January 2013.
Answered by George Eustice
In the comprehensive TB Strategy we commit to pursuing options to license a cattle vaccine by 2023, or sooner if possible, but the hurdles remain very high. The 10 years indicative timeline set out by the Commission was an indication of the timescale for allowing free movement of vaccinated cattle in the EU. It may be possible for vaccination to be used in the UK before then but we are still some way from that, given the need to develop an effective DIVA test (a TB test to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals) and, if we are successful in that, what would then inevitably be lengthy, wide-scale and expensive field trials.
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 her Department has made on commencing field trials for a cattle vaccine for bovine TB.
Answered by George Eustice
Before a decision can be made to make an investment in field trials, we need to be confident that we have an effective DIVA test (a TB test to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals). The work we have already done shows that the blood test DIVA is unlikely to be good enough, in that it will yield too many false positive results leading to slaughter of too many uninfected cattle. So we are now investing in the development of a more promising skin test DIVA.
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 discussions her Department has held with other EU member states in which bovine TB occurs on establishing joint research on a TB vaccine for cattle.
Answered by George Eustice
To date, no other EU member States have expressed interest in developing a TB vaccine for cattle. But we are working with officials and businesses in both New Zealand and the USA in our quest to identify, through research, an effective DIVA test (a TB test to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals), which is a critical element of any programme which would involve BCG vaccination of cattle.
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 has not yet introduced a Bill based on the draft Wild Animals in Circuses Bill.
Answered by George Eustice
We remain committed to banning the use of wild animals in circuses. Despite publishing a draft Bill and supporting the Honourable Member’s determined attempt to introduce that Bill, we have run out of time this Parliament. We have always said that introducing primary legislation can take time. That is why we introduced a strict licensing scheme to protect the welfare of wild animals still used in circuses in the interim.