2. Will the Minister provide an update on the implementation of the animal welfare plan for Wales? OQ58798

Thank you. Progress has been made across all four of our animal welfare commitments, and ongoing work is on schedule. Wider work has progressed on animal welfare policy, and the local authority enforcement project is driving significant change, and the 12-week consultation on closed-circuit television in slaughterhouses was launched on 14 November.

Thank you, Minister. A year into the five-year process, as you say, there has been good progress, most notably the consultation on mandatory CCTV in abattoirs. But in terms of priorities, can I ask where the use of breeding cages for game birds sits? I know the plan includes a commitment to examine the evidence around their use, but with the new shooting season under way, the use of breeding cages and how that sits with our commitment to animal welfare is quite rightly in focus. So, can you provide any update on that particular issue?

Thank you. As you referred to, we have our priorities for animal welfare in the plan. It is a five-year programme, and we are just having the one-year look back at what we've been able to achieve in that first year. It's not possible to provide you with a timeline for the consultation on any changes to the welfare legislation, or the code of practice, in relation to the welfare of game birds. And, certainly, you'll appreciate that, within the office of the chief veterinary officer, a significant number of officials are having to deal with the avian influenza outbreak, and it has taken a bit of a priority, as you can imagine. But certainly, we will now, as we go into the second year of the plan, look at what we can do, and I know that this is an area of great importance—I can tell by my postbag how significant this is.

One of the legacies we know about COVID is that, obviously, a lot of people during the COVID pandemic took on a pet, and the responsibility of a pet. The welfare implications, as we've come out of COVID, have indicated that many pets have been left abandoned, and the charitable sector that tends to pick them up and look after them and try and rehome them has come under huge amounts of pressure. Has the Government done any analysis of the extra work that charities working in Wales have had to face because of this legacy, and, if the Government have done an analysis, are you minded to work financially and other co-operatively with them, to support this extra burden that they face, so that these animals can be rehomed in a sensible way, rather than, ultimately and tragically, end up being put down?

You're quite right—we certainly did see a significant increase in the number of households that obtained a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic. And as we came out of the pandemic, and perhaps people returned to work who were previously working at home when they got their pet, we did see a number of animals looking to be rehoused. I think the cost-of-living crisis now is also, unfortunately, increasing the number of pets that are looking to be rehoused. I'm not aware of any significant analysis. I know that the office of the chief veterinary officer has worked with third sector organisations, to see what we can do to assist them. I have to be perfectly honest—I don't think my budget would allow any further funding to be able to be given to the third sector, but, obviously, if that could be considered in the future, I'd be very happy to do that.