Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

Lord de Clifford Excerpts

Friday 5th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord de Clifford (CB)]

I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hart of Tenby, on his maiden speech and support a lot of what he said, especially his passion for the countryside. Like other noble Lords, I am a dog owner and have enjoyed the benefit of many years of walking in the countryside across livestock fields. I work in and am a shareholder of a veterinary practice.

I too welcome this Bill and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, on continuing to get it through Parliament over the last few years. I welcome the updating and extending of the 1953 Bill. It reflects the changes in the number of dogs now kept in the UK and the different types of pet-owning homes, the large increase in pet owners, who may not have a great knowledge of livestock and how it reacts to dogs, and the increase in the number of types of livestock being farmed in the UK.

This Bill covers an area that has become of concern to the veterinary sector in recent years—dog behaviour. This very much reflects our practice’s experience since Covid of the aggression that dogs have due to lack of socialisation. The BVA is taking an interest in this area and we hope to educate and share knowledge with the public. I welcome the update to the types of livestock covered to include camelids, as they are becoming a lot more common and being farmed, as we are very aware in our practice.

I have very few concerns with the Bill and I support it. I welcome the substitution of Section 2 of the 1953 Act on seizure and detention of dogs. I especially support the change to allow police to seize dogs that continue to pose a threat in attacking and worrying livestock. My concern, as with our other debate, is with the enforcement of the Bill and the cost to police and local authorities of holding dogs. I note the change to help address this in the Bill, but my experience of veterinary clients is that, sometimes, the dogs most likely to worry animals come from individuals who find it difficult to pay their bills. Therefore, the ability of local authorities and police to recover debt will be an issue. I know the Minister is fully aware of the pressure on authorities dealing with animal welfare, as the APPG on animal welfare had a discussion on this recently, which she kindly attended.

Hopefully the Bill will help educate the public on livestock worrying and support farmers to reduce the attacks on farms in rural areas. If it passes, it will be a good opportunity to really promote this to all dog owners in this country, to encourage education on how dogs should be on leads when crossing fields when livestock in them, and to clearly define what a pet is when it is under close control. I therefore support the Bill.