§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received in support of the establishment of a national dog registration scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryOut of 462 local authorities and those organisations known to represent them, 238 responded to our consultation paper, "Action on Dogs", which was issued in 1989. Two hundred and seven of those who responded supported a dog registration scheme. By last June, when the "Control of Dogs" consultation document was issued, of the 244 local authorities and their representative organisations who responded to part II of the paper for which we are responsible, only 135 supported registration.
§ Mr. MaddenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to amend the Local Government Act 1988 to introduce a national dog registration scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryNo. The Government intend to implement, from April 1992, the package of dog control measures contained in the Environmental Protection Act 1990. They include a duty on local authorities to enforce the requirement that dogs wear a collar and identification tag when in a public place and to ensure that stray dogs are collected up. We remain of the view that the package provides a practical and effective solution to the problems caused by irresponsible owners and that registration would be bureaucratic, expensive to operate and difficult to enforce. With regard to dogs which are bred especially for fighting, my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has announced his intention to bring before the House as soon as possible this Session, legislation which will ban the breeding and ownership of such dogs.