5. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs: Companion Animal Welfare

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:52 pm on 19 June 2018.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 4:52, 19 June 2018

Thank you, Vikki Howells, for those questions. I'll certainly join her in paying tribute to Eileen Jones and RCT council. There is a huge amount of work going on in relation to third-party sales, and I've asked the network to have a look particularly at this aspect of animal health and welfare.

You asked about dog fighting, which is obviously horrific and illegal, and we work very closely with the police. If anybody has any evidence of this, that's where they should go in the first instance.

In relation to the animal offender register, you will have heard my answers to Bethan Sayed, and, as I said, there are several recommendations within the draft report that I do think are worthy of further consideration. Even though the advice to me is not to bring a register forward at this time, I think the points that Bethan raised around looking at the evidence in detail—I certainly will do that. I've literally just had the draft report, so I haven't had the opportunity to do that yet, but I will do before I bring forward a statement in the summer.

I mentioned in my opening statement that I think we need to look at people who are struggling; circumstances do change. I mentioned about women fleeing from a violent household, and I had a discussion with the advisers today. So, I think we need to work with Dogs Trust; I know they help. We, actually, as a Government, have had two inquiries in the last few months about fostering pets urgently, and obviously we don't have the facilities to do that. So, it's about working with charities and with the third sector to see if that's available.