Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend Schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to remove the Greenland White Fronted goose as a shootable species.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government intends to prohibit the hunting of Greenland white-fronted goose by removing the species from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The legislation will be laid by the spring.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 Answers of 15 April 2019 to Questions 242653 and 242654, for what reason his Department has not removed the White-Fronted Goose from schedule 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 given that that goose is endangered on a similar level to the Greenland White-Fronted Goose.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The European white fronted goose is not of global conservation concern so we do not intend to add any protections for it.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
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 April 2019 to Questions 242653 and 242654, what criteria his Department uses to distinguish between the (a) Greenland and (b) European White-Fronted Goose to avoid accidental killings of the Greenland sub-species.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
It is the responsibility of the person engaged in shooting activity to make sure that they are complying with the law, including ensuring that they are able to identify the species they are shooting.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many prosecutions there have been of dog owners for sheep worrying in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley
There is a range of measures available to the police and local authorities to prevent or respond to dog attacks on livestock. The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control and this includes in and around livestock. In addition, the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 makes it an offence to allow a dog to worry livestock. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes specific powers for police and local authorities to take action before a dog becomes dangerously out of control by issuing a warning notice for low level dog related nuisance. The table below provides the number of people prosecuted under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 for allowing dogs to worry all types of livestock, including sheep, in the last five years for which figures are available. Prosecutions have been made under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 but data is not centrally held on the circumstances of how the dog was dangerously out of control.
Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | Grand Total |
Prosecuted | 50 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 37 | 232 |