Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:48 pm on 16 December 2020.
I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that question. You raised this issue when I was in front of committee last Thursday, and both I and the chief veterinary officer said that we haven't seen an increase in abandonment. But maybe it's too early because, obviously, people perhaps are working from home, who have not gone back to work, and if they've had a puppy or a dog during that time, maybe it is a bit early to assess that, but we are keeping a close eye on that.
I think I also mentioned last week that the economic resilience fund, which is unique to Wales, supporting businesses, is available for some of the centres to which you referred to apply for. Clearly, it's something that we are keeping a very close eye on and, as the pandemic progresses and we do come out of this and we do see people returning to work et cetera, we will have to, as I say, keep a very close eye. But, certainly, we're not seeing the levels of abandonment that I think you referred to.