§ 39. Mr. Costainasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the risk of rabies being brought into the United Kingdom by animals being smuggled in vehicles, he will arrange for trained dogs to be available at all ports to scent out any animals being brought illegally into the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonAs I said in reply to a similar Question on 5th May, the use of dogs to detect illegally imported animals presents a number of practical difficulties, including the fact that if a detector dog came into contact with an imported animal it would itself have to be isloated and kept under veterinary observation for a period. It has yet to be established that dogs could operate effectively in this field and offer worthwhile results, but the Customs are keeping the matter under review in the light of experiments which are being conducted in the use of dogs for this purpose.