6. What assessment has the Minister made of the effectiveness of Welsh legislation in protecting dogs? OQ58244

Thank you. We work in partnership with the Welsh Government-funded local authority enforcement project and animal welfare organisations to monitor the effectiveness of our work to protect dogs and to consider further actions. I am supportive of further measures to ensure high welfare standards are maintained in matters such as dog breeding.

Thank you, Minister, for that response. Like many Members of the Senedd, I strongly supported the introduction of the Welsh version of Lucy's law, which you brought in in the last Senedd. I, like many Members here, support the Justice For Reggie campaign, calling for the regulation of online sales of dogs, with the regulation of all websites where animals are sold, for websites to be required to verify the identity of all sellers, and for young animals 'for sale' pictures with their parents to be posted with all listings. Does the Welsh Government support the taking of such action, and is it a devolved responsibility?

Thank you. Whilst it's a very important step, I think I always maintain that the regulations I did bring in last year on pet sales didn't address all the problems associated with puppy trading. Reflecting this, we do support further measures to ensure high welfare standards at dog breeding establishments. I also acknowledge the lure of a quick, unregulated sale that really can attract unscrupulous breeders and dealers to websites. So, for that reason, we do support the work of the UK-wide pet advertising advisory group, and that seeks to ensure online advertising of pets is carried out legally and ethically. You'll be aware we also supported the local authority enforcement project, and that does liaise closely with the police, so it is a reserved area. But, I would just say that if anybody does have any specific concerns, they should contact CrimeStoppers as a matter of urgency.

Minister, on that point about unregulated or poorly regulated sales, you might recall, back in October, I raised with you the issue of a graded or scoring system to be implemented for dog breeders within Wales, and you responded at the time saying that was certainly something you were considering. Now, new figures released this week by the RSPCA and Hope Rescue show that local authorities received almost 1,000 enquiries from concerned members of the public in 2020 and 2021 and, as we've heard from Sarah Murphy and Altaf Hussain, the number of investigations have increased by 63 per cent as well, and I think the reason all three of us have mentioned that is because that is quite a stark figure. That suggests that, whilst consumers might be becoming more aware of some of the practices by rogue traders, that is a cause for concern as well. So, given that, Minister, can you provide an update on what progress has been made in implementing recommendations such as these, as set out in the expert task and finish group?

I haven't got a specific update, and I certainly can't give you a timescale. As I said in a previous answer, the plan is a five-year plan. We're only just into the second year of the plan, but it's certainly something that we will be monitoring very closely.