1. What consideration has the Welsh Government given to providing regular public awareness campaigns on responsible pet ownership to counteract the risk of a rise in animal abandonment as a result of the cost-of-living crisis? OQ58257

Diolch. Our #PawsPreventProtect social media campaign promotes responsible purchasing and serves as a reminder of the lifetime costs associated with owning a pet. We also continue to liaise with our third sector partners to support their work in promoting expectations of responsible ownership, particularly as pressures grow on household budgets.

Thank you, Minister. I realise that the #PawsPreventProtect social media campaign mainly runs over the festive period and that it is quite seasonal and limited, focused on responsible pet purchasing. It is obviously a successful campaign, but quite limited. By contrast, in England, they have Petfished, a long-running pet buying awareness campaign, while in Scotland, the Scottish Government has a Buy a Puppy Safely campaign—both with dedicated, enduring websites and awareness-raising resources, and both supplemented by other awareness-raising measures too.

You'll be aware, as many of us are, I'm sure, that the RSPCA's new animal kindness index suggests that 19 per cent of pet owners are worried about buying food for their pets amid the cost-of-living crisis. The RSPCA has already seen an increase in animal intake at RSPCA centres amounting to 49 per cent more rabbits, 14 per cent more cats and 3 per cent more dogs in the first five months of 2022. Therefore, will Welsh Government be committing to using a permanent promotional campaign to signpost owners to available support packages elsewhere, which could prove really useful to owners unsure where to turn, if we can't be running our own permanent campaign?

I will certainly consider looking at what we can do more permanently, but we do regularly promote and share messages from other organisations on responsible ownership. Just last week, we had one regarding the care of animals in hot weather, for instance, and leaving dogs, particularly, in cars. So, there are a lot of other social media outlets that we do promote and share, and I would encourage all Members of the Senedd to do so as well. I think you raise a very important point, and certainly, the couple of rescue centres that I've been able to visit this year are seeing, sadly, an increase in the number of pets that they are having to take in. We've had, obviously, people buying pets during the COVID pandemic and then, perhaps when they've had to go back to work full time, realise the difficulties in looking after a pet when they're back in work, and then, as you've just raised, the cost-of-living crisis. But I'm certainly open to any suggestions about seeing what we could do more permanently.

Minister, abandonment of pets is a big issue and it always has been a big issue. For some residents of homes, they have to abandon their companion animals because in the rented sector, some landlords say that no pets are allowed. In Westminster, they are bringing through a piece of legislation that will rule that out and make it illegal for landlords to insist that pets cannot be taken into homes, especially when the animal is a companion animal that plays an important role in the mental health of that individual. Are you minded to give consideration to that particular piece of legislation that's going through Westminster, and, in conjunction with your colleague the Minister for housing, consider similar measures here in Wales?

It is something, certainly, that I've discussed with the Minister for Climate Change, who obviously has responsibility for housing. And as you'll probably be aware, next week, we will be debating Luke Fletcher's proposed legislation around no-pet clauses. I'm sure that, as Ministers, we will be having discussions further with Luke.

Minister, my colleague Sarah Murphy and I recently visited Hope Rescue near Llanharan. We saw the brilliant work they were doing, but they told us about the massive increase in enquiries they're having from owners who simply are asking, 'How do I afford now to keep my pet? How do I feed it? How do I pay vet fees? How do I pay for insurance?' They're also having increasing numbers of abandoned pets, way beyond what they've ever seen before. We've seen the same at the Dogs Trust as well in Bridgend. With this, would you undertake to meet with those good, authoritative people who are out there in the field to see how they can best work not only with the dogs and the pets that are being presented to them, but also with the owners to give them good advice, so that they don't have to abandon those pets, that there are other sources of help out there, rather than them ending up stray or abandoned, or, frankly, dumped on rescue centres like Hope Rescue?

Thank you for that. I've already met with the Hope Rescue centre. I've also met with the North Clwyd Animal Rescue centre up in north-east Wales. My officials regularly meet with the third sector to see what we can do to help people who are obviously facing very difficult decisions. And certainly, again, having met with owners, they will tell me that they will feed their pets before they feed themselves, if they're faced with such a decision. So, I think it's just really important we continue to engage, particularly with the third sector, to see what more we can do to assist.