§ Mr. MARNHAM (Surrey, Chertsey)I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether he has been informed that on the night of 10th February, 1906, a flock of ewes and lambs belonging to Mr. G. Gatley, Bowers Farm, Worplesdon, was attacked by a dog or dogs, upwards of fifty of them being either killed or driven into the River Wey and drowned; and whether he will consider the advisability of introducing a measure whereby farmers and others may be compensated in such cases.
§ MR. LLOYD-GEORGEMy hon. friend the Member for South Somerset has asked me to reply to this Question in his absence. He has made inquiries into the case to which my hon. friend refers. The facts are quite correctly stated in his Question. He is sorry to say that similar occurrences are frequently reported to us, and there is no doubt that flockmasters 643 suffer very serious losses from the worrying of their sheep by dogs. He does not think that Parliament could be asked to pay compensation for those losses out of public funds, but he believes that the Bill of which he has given notice will do something to mitigate the evil, and he hopes to proceed with it at an early date.