Dog Control and Welfare

I think that the Committee would like to record our disappointment that it took so long to produc...

Could the Government make good that slight on the Committee by introducing draft guidance—they ha...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I am sure that the Minister will have heard his remarks;...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Chair of the Select Committee for her excellent speech, and I...

I welcome my hon. Friend’s intervention. It is important that we get the measure right. The paral...

I thank the Chair of the Select Committee for giving way and compliment her on her report. She ma...

My hon. Friend reinforces the Select Committee’s point that the microchip is a tool but not the w...

As the hon. Lady rightly highlights, the CWU makes that point strongly, because of the number of ...

The Committee and I welcome what the hon. Lady says. When I visited the Blue Cross home in my own...

Once again, I commend the Chair of the Select Committee on her contribution. Does she agree that ...

I welcome the intervention by the hon. Gentleman; I am tempted to call him my hon. Friend. On a n...

The hon. Lady has been generous in allowing me to make many interventions. On the point about bre...

Indeed. That was one of our conclusions. One hesitates to use the word “bitch”, but in this debat...

As with driving offences, we must differentiate between those people who are deliberately setting...

Indeed. I am grateful to the hon. Lady for those comments. I do not know if that was what the sha...

I start by saying how much I welcome the two reports on this issue from the Environment, Food and...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that the Government’s proposals in the Anti-social Behaviour...

I agree, and because the proposals are subsumed in antisocial behaviour legislation, not enough p...

My hon. Friend makes a good point about prioritising the matter among the wide range of measures ...

I agree. My hon. Friend raises some important points.

The dog control notice could say, “Ke...

I am a little concerned that in the debate about dog control notices, which, for the reasons the ...

Absolutely. I agree that people may be concerned that it is cruel to keep a dog muzzled. However,...

May I correct the record? I previously said that 20,000 people had signed the petition, but the f...

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating the people involved. Dogs are similar to children, and ea...

rose—

Order. There are about 15 minutes per person remaining.

2.15 pm

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I will try to ensure that my ...

Local authorities spend about £57 million a year on kennelling costs, when dogs are thought to be...

The Blue Cross hospital here in London might have dogs of a breed that is considered vicious, yet...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak, Mr Turner, and I am sorry that I was a few minutes la...

I am grateful that I have caught your eye, Mr Turner. Dogs’ hackles are up and their hair is on e...

I am delighted that we are able to debate this important issue in response to the seventh report ...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that this is precisely the type of issue that needs to be widely co...

Very much so. The hon. Gentleman made that point well in terms of the organisational structure th...

To put the hon. Gentleman’s mind at rest, I can tell him that when we looked at the issue in our ...

I welcome that intervention, and I welcome the fact that the Committee’s thinking has evolved bas...

indicated assent.

The Minister is nodding, so I know he is going to say a lot of good things in his response.