Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:38 pm on 2 October 2018.
Yes, I was privileged to have a quick chat with some of the personnel involved in setting up the exhibition last week. I was offered the opportunity to be rescued from a vehicle, but unfortunately my diary wouldn't permit me to do it. I was a bit disappointed by it, but anyway—. [Laughter.] I'm extremely happy to wish them all the best for the world challenge in a few weeks' time. It's a fun way to demonstrate the excellence of the service and some of the challenges that they meet. I'm absolutely happy to congratulate them on hosting such a prestigious event and pay tribute to everyone involved. It was a great performance by south Wales, as Vikki Howells has said. They won the overall awards for casualty extrication and for rope rescue and were placed third in water rescue—by far the best performance all round. I absolutely want to wish them the very best of luck at the forthcoming world challenge in South Africa.
Unlike other public sector organisations, they set their own budgets here in Wales. They're unique in that respect. We don't directly fund and control the level of funding they levy from the constituent local authorities. But they do such a great job, and I think, all joking aside, it is an excellent way to showcase and to allow the personnel of the fire and rescue service to showcase how really very good they are. This isn't just excellence in a competition, this is actually excellence on the side of the road when they're helping people, and the speed with which they perform saves lives. So, I'm very, very happy to commend them.
In terms of the animal welfare regulations that Vikki Howells raised, the Cabinet Secretary made an oral statement back in June, and has committed to an investigation of third-party sellers in Wales. Work is ongoing with stakeholders to gather information on the issues and we will be looking at options for the way forward in due course. But it is worth remembering that we've already introduced a number of animal welfare measures well before England, which include the Animal Welfare (Breeding of Dogs) Wales Regulations 2014, the Microchipping of Dogs (Wales) Regulations 2015 and the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations 2010, and the Cabinet Secretary is working hard with stakeholders to see what we can do to build on that.