Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of puppies sold by third party dealers in England in the last twelve months.

We recently undertook a call for evidence on a ban on the commercial third party sale of puppies and kittens in England. Evidence from the RSPCA in response to that exercise suggests between 40,000 and 80,000 puppies are sold by licensed pet shops each year.