Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con)
I must declare an interest in this petition, because the event that led to it occurred in my garden, where a dog was savaged—brutally—by a pack of 10 dogs. I said to the owner of the dog that I would present the petition only if it achieved at least 1,000 signatures, because I thought it would be improper for me to benefit from a parliamentary procedure on my own account. Instead, we received thousands of signatures, not only from my constituency, the village of West Harptree and neighbouring villages, but, thanks to The Daily Telegraph, from across the country.
The petition states:
The Humble Petition of Deborah Bowler,
Sheweth,
That the Petitioner believes that attacks by dogs made on all other animals should be made illegal and that owners should be legally responsible for their dogs’ actions.
Wherefore your Petitioner prays that your Honourable House shall urge the Government to consider legislating to make owners accountable for their dogs’ actions in the case of attacks on other animals.
And your Petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.
[P001097]