Written question WQ85956

Animal welfare and the responsible ownership of animals are priorities for the Welsh Government and the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group. We take the issue of dog attacks on livestock very seriously. The costs, financially and emotionally, for those who own or find dead and injured livestock are wholly unacceptable, as are the animal welfare implications. The Countryside Code, published by Natural Resources Wales, provides clear guidance on the responsibility of dog owners to keep their dogs under effective control. Dogs should be kept on a lead or in sight at all times and owners should be confident their dogs will return on command.

We are working with the UK Government on introducing further safeguards through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The Bill proposes to repeal and replace the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 with a new set of provisions to address the issue of dogs attacking or worrying livestock. It aims to broaden the definition of livestock which are afforded protection and the areas in which the powers apply. As currently drafted, it also incorporates a range of ancillary orders that the Courts may make to provide effective tools to address reoffending in the most serious cases of livestock worrying.

Animals should be protected from pain, injury and distress. This is why we introduced the Animal Welfare (Electronic Collars) (Wales) Regulations 2010 to prevent the use of electronic training/impulse collars on dogs and cats. The regulations ban the use of any collar that is capable of administering an electric shock to a dog or cat.

In 2015, the Welsh Government commissioned an independent review of evidence in relation to the welfare implications for dogs and cats arising from the use of electric collars. The review considered the potential benefits and efficacy of electric collars against animal welfare concerns in order to reach conclusions about whether the benefits outweighed the animal welfare costs. The review is available on the Welsh Government website: electronic-collars-in-dogs-and-cats-review-of-welfare-implications.pdf (gov.wales). There are no plans to review the regulations at this time. However, my officials monitor the situation closely and would be interested to see the scientific evidence that you cite in your question.