Clause 5 - Mutilation
Animal Welfare Bill
5:30 pm
Ben Bradshaw (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Exeter, Labour)
I acknowledge the difficulties that a number of hon. Members have highlighted relating to how one would enforce an exemption for working dogs. I accept that that is difficult; when it was being discussed as the Government's preferred option, we had many in-depth and lengthy discussions about it. Were it the preferred option of the Committee—I have to say that that does not seem to be the case—we would have to do more work on the statutory instrument to satisfy people as far as we possibly could.
We would not be able ever to satisfy people completely that there would not be some loopholes, including certification by a vet or the family history of the dog concerned. The person applying may be a member of a gun club or shooting organisation. We would have to do what we could. I accept that it is difficult to envisage a situation where such exemptions and guarantees could be made watertight.