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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Dogs Trust pilot quarantine on disrupting the illegal importation of puppies under the Pet Travel Scheme.

I welcome the Dogs Trust initiative to pay the quarantine costs of dogs and puppies identified at Dover as being not compliant to enter Great Britain under the EU Pet Travel Scheme. Since 2 December 2015, 108 puppies have been licensed into the quarantine facilities, mainly due to concerns that puppies were under the minimum age for travelling.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the initiative following its conclusion.