§ MR. ELLIS GRIFFITH (Anglesey)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention had been called to the Report presented to the Standing Joint Police Committee of Warwickshire by the Chief Constable on 29th April last, in which it was stated that the period of detention required by the Dogs Act of 1906 was far too long, and that he had, on his own responsibility, ordered dogs to be destroyed after three or four days detention; and whether, in view of this breach of Section 3 (2) of the Dogs Act of 1906, he will, with a view to the better administration of the Act in Warwickshire, consider the advisa- 1234 bility of issuing a circular pointing out the provisions contained in the Act.
§ MR. GLADSTONEI have seen the report referred to by my hon. friend. The Chief Constable states that dogs of any value and dogs wearing collars with an address are invariably kept the seven days prescribed by Section 3 (4) of the Act, but worthless dogs with no collar are destroyed at the end of three or four days. This has been the practice in Warwickshire for many years, and there have been no complaints. Persons living near police stations are often much annoyed by the barking of dogs which are kept by the police, and it was to mitigate this nuisance that the instructions were given. I have called the Chief Constable's attention to the fact that he is not authorised by the Act to destroy any dog before the expiration of seven days, and that he renders himself liable to pay damages to the owner of any dog so killed.