Animal Welfare: Cats and Dogs

Baroness Fookes Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Fookes (Con)]

My Lords, before I get launched and forget, I must declare an interest as a vice-president of the RSPCA and president of one of its local branches. I also chair a charity that seeks to raise funds and channel them to the Companion Animal Welfare Council, which was set up originally by my noble friend Lord Soulsby and others, with the object of providing expert advisory guidance on all matters relating to companion animals. The idea of the noble Lord, Lord Soulsby, was that eventually it would become like the Farm Animal Welfare Council, with some government support. Unfortunately, finances are such that this has never happened. Indeed, we are now finding it difficult to raise funds, at a time when it is so difficult for all the animal welfare charities that previously contributed to it. It has produced a number of interesting reports, one of which went to Defra when it was considering, in its embryonic form, what became the 2006 Act. It has also considered dog registration and other matters.

I am, of course, delighted that dog registration will become compulsory, with microchipping, in 2016, but I have to tell the Minister that I personally, like many others, have waited a long, long time. When the old dog licensing legislation was abolished in the 1980s, I suggested that compulsory registration, brought up to date with the then new microchipping, would be a good idea. In the other place I sought on two separate occasions to attach it to other Bills, with a total lack of success. So I am very pleased now, because I think it will do more than anything else to improve the welfare of dogs and help to deal with the appalling problem of strays, which has been so distressing to many of us for years, and also the unwanted dog population.

The noble Lord, Lord Hoyle, mentioned dog fighting—a particularly horrible and barbaric so-called sport. He wondered why there were so few prosecutions. I fear that the reason is that the very secretive groups of people who undertake this are very good at finding distant places where they may engage in it. For example, when I was a Plymouth MP, we knew that Dartmoor often provided ideal opportunities for people to hide away and engage in that barbaric practice. I know from talking to RSPCA inspectors that they virtually had to go underground, practically in disguise, to penetrate such groups. It is not an easy thing to do.

Something of great concern to me at the moment is the use of electronic collars for the so-called training of dogs. As far as I am aware—unless the Minister can tell me otherwise—it is still legal, but I think it should be outlawed. The matter could well be embraced in one of the codes under the 2006 Act. I hope that the Minister will look into that as a matter of urgency.

There are innumerable other matters with which one could concern oneself, but let me now turn to the subject of cats. Like my noble friend Lord Black, I am a great lover of cats as well as dogs. One of the most miserable parts of my life in animal welfare has been seeing how many cats are unwanted. Sometimes they become feral. The animal welfare charities are unable to deal with them all properly, and one of the most miserable things one can do is to go to one of the welfare establishments where there are cages upon cages of animals waiting to be re-homed. They all look adorable, and one wants to take them all home. In fact, years ago when I chaired the RSPCA, my mother was still alive and I used to take her round on visits—until finally she said, “I can’t bear to see any more of these unwanted dogs and cats. Please don’t ask me to come with you again.” We still have the problem; it never seems to go away.

I hope that the Minister will look again at the issue of unwanted animals, particularly cats. I am sure that, as other noble Lords have suggested, a lot could be done with a really good neutering programme. The animal welfare charities do their best, but I believe that the Government themselves should be taking a more urgent look at this. Dare I suggest that they might put a little money towards it? I am probably addressing deaf ears—very deaf ears. None the less I shall make the point, because it is time that Governments took more responsibility, rather than waving it off to local authorities, animal welfare charities—you name it. I am aware that my time is up, so I shall sit down in hope.