Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 9 October 2019.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 1:39, 9 October 2019

Thank you for the agreement on the images; I think any sane person would say the same, Minister. And I offer no criticism of the actions you've taken to date, because they seem to be actions that should be taken: engaging with people who will be involved in the enforcement—local authorities—the profession, i.e. veterinary surgeons, and obviously the puppy-breeding sector itself. I think what people are anxious to understand, given the level of consultation that's gone on around Lucy's law and other proposals that the Government have brought forward, is what timeline the Government is working to to actually implement safeguards and enforcement measures that will bring an end to these horrendous practices? Regrettably, there will always be rogues out there who will always try and circumnavigate the regulations, but, clearly, this is on an industrial scale—this is going on—and, in fact, in the presentation I received this morning, the puppy farm industry sector was calibrated to be about £12 million in Wales alone, which is a huge sum of money, and, when you put that money forward, people will try and beat the regulations. So, what we need to try and understand is that, instead of in six months' time watching the same images or new images on tv or through social media, we have taken action and put the remedial work in place to make sure that we can stamp these practices out. So, on those measures you mentioned to me in you first question, have you a timeline of action in place that will say, 'In two months, in four months, in six months we will be in a far better place'?