Animal Welfare

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:05 pm on 7 February 2023.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:05, 7 February 2023

Yes, absolutely, I'd be more than happy to meet with you. I had one in my own constituency as well—I had a fatal dog attack in my own constituency—and previous to Julie Morgan joining the Government, I remember having several meetings with her and a local Cardiff councillor around this. This is something that really needs to be got to grips with. As you say, the Dangerous Dogs Act is non-devolved, and I have raised this with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to see if the plan could be to amend the Act. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any movement by the UK Government to do that. The Act covers the ownership of specific breeds of dogs deemed to be dangerous, but we know, of course, that all breeds of dogs can show aggression sometimes. So, I think that's an important point to remember. For me, as a Welsh Government, I think it's really important to promote responsible ownership, particularly in relation to that particular point.

I'm certainly very happy to look at your suggestion. As you know, we updated the animal welfare licensing regulations, and we did close loopholes there relating to pet sales to try and improve enforcement by local authorities. We've had the enforcement project that Welsh Government has funded for three years. I think we need to make sure that the public are making informed decisions when they buy a pet, so that was part of those regulations as well. But there is absolutely more we can do. I've asked officials to actually start to look at dog licensing again. When I was young, people had to have a dog licence, and maybe now is the time to look at that. I have asked my interim chief veterinary officer to do that for me.