§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the case of Mrs. Roso Bassili explaining how and why the British Embassy was unable to supply the form which she had been advised by the consulate to fill in and return; why she was given different information by Customs officers that all she needed for her dog to enter Great Britain was a vaccination certificate certifying that the dog had been inoculated against rabies; and why, in view of the series of errors and neglect upon the part of British Government Departments, Mrs. Bassili had to pay £100 for the return of her dog.
§ Mr. StrangInquiries into this case indicate neither errors nor neglect on the part of any British department or officials. Overseas posts are in possession of full 129W instructions and details of our rabies importation and quarantine regulations in order to respond to enquiries. In Paris all inquirers at the embassy are referred to the consular section, which provides them with a comprehensive leaflet describing the regulations, including the necessity to arrange quarantine and to obtain an import licence in advance, and how to apply for such licence to my Ministry or the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland. The embassy cannot recall any inquiry by Mrs. Bassili, nor, indeed, any recent inquiries on this subject.
The embassy is unable to ascertain at which Customs office, if any, Mrs. Bassili may have been given incorrect information, but the French Customs authorities have been provided with a leaflet, in French, for very wide distribution to their staff, stressing the essential points of our regulations and that detailed information can be obtained from British consulatesgeneral.
The Rabies (Importation of Dogs, Cats and Other Mammals) Order 1974, as amended, provides for illegally landed animals to be re-exported, placed in quarantine or destroyed and for the cost to be recovered from the owner or person in charge of the animal, regardless of the circumstances of the landing or any associated court proceedings. In this case I understand that Mrs. Bassili was stopped by British Transport Police and Customs Officers when she alighted from the boat train at Victoria Station, carrying her dog in a holdall. The dog was seized by the authorities and Mrs. Bassili later pleaded guilty in court to landing it illegally; Press reports appear to have been based solely upon her pleas subsequently made in mitigation.