§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many hunting hounds are known to have died from ataxia for each of the last 10 years;
(2) what research he has undertaken to establish the reasons for the increase in deaths of hunting hounds from hound ataxia; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacleanSince ataxia in hunting hounds is not a notifiable disease, no official statistics are available on deaths resulting from it.
The Department is not currently undertaking any research into hound ataxia.