§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many unwanted dogs have been handed over to societies such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, during each of the last five years for which records are available.
(2) if he will provide assistance to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Leicester in view of the 2,300 unwanted dogs handed in at the society's Scudamore Road kennels during the past 12 months;
(3) if he will now seek to introduce legislation to control the sale of dogs.
§ Mr. RaisonInformation about the numbers of unwanted dogs handed over to animal welfare societies is not available nationally. We have no power to provide assistance of the kind suggested. The Pet Animals Act 1951 already controls sales of pets, including dogs, from pet shops and we have no plans to introduce further legislation to control the sale of dogs.