§ SIR BARRINGTON SIMEON (Southampton)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will consider the advisability of giving the police authority immediately to kill any horse or dog that may be mortally injured in the streets of London and other towns in Great Britain and Ireland, so as to avoid the torture which animals constantly undergo whilst the consent of their owner is being obtained for their destruction.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers Douglas.) The police are already empowered under The Injured Animals Act, 1894, to kill an injured horse without the consent of the owner if a veterinary surgeon certifies that the animal is injured mortally or so severely that it is cruel to keep it alive. This power is frequently exercised by the police in London; and there are standing arrangements by which the services of veterinary surgeons can be obtained 673 without delay. There is no similar provision with regard to dogs; but I believe that injuries to dogs in the streets are not so common as to require special legislation.