§ Lord Houghton of Sowerbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, and the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 as amended by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 give a farmer in Scotland or a person entitled to act for him authority to shoot a dog which is at large in a field or enclosure containing livestock (cattle, sheep or pigs) even though the dog is not worrying, or about to worry or to attack the livestock.
§ The Minister of State, Scottish Office (Lord Gray of Contin): In Scotland a farmer or a person acting under his authority is lawfully entitled to shoot a dog in the circumstances laid down in Section 129 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, where those circumstances are fulfilled. Section 1(2) of the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953, as amended by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, requires inter alia that dogs be kept on a lead or otherwise under close control while in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep and that the dog should not be permitted to be at large in such field or enclosure. The position in any particular case would be a matter for interpretation by the courts.