§ Mr. Colvinasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many dog licences were issued in England and Wales in the last year for which he has statistics; how many dogs were estimated by his Department to be exempt from licences; and how many were estimated illegally to have no licences.
§ Mr. WigginI have been asked to reply.
A total of 2,703,677 dog licences were taken out in England and Wales in the financial year 1979–80. In a report published in 1976 the inter-departmental working party on dogs noted that the United Kingdom dog population was then probably more than 6 million; and it was estimated that only one dog in two was licensed. There are no current estimates of the number of dogs in England and Wales which are either exempt from licensing or are kept illegally without a licence.