Harvey’s Law

Debate between Tony Cunningham and Baroness Bray of Coln

Monday 2nd March 2015 Westminster Hall

[Angie Bray (Ealing Central and Acton) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) on securing the debate on this important issue.

I do not think that anyone—at least anyone with a heart—could fail to be moved by the sad story of Harvey. It is made only worse by the knowledge that what happened to Harvey happens far too often. For those of us who have brought pets into our homes and made them a part of the family—I am of course talking here about many of us—it is simply inconceivable that, in death, killed on a road, they can simply be chucked to one side because the Highways Agency cannot be bothered to do the decent thing and report that, as its guidelines currently require.

Now there are suggestions that the guidelines might get changed later this year so that it will no longer be necessary for the death of identifiable animals on the roads to be reported to owners. I certainly hope that those remain just suggestions. It is bad enough that the guidelines get ignored while they still exist, but it would be intolerable to turn that practice into the norm. Instead, I believe that the guidelines should be beefed up, so that the Highways Agency is obliged by law to do the right thing and ensure that deaths are reported to owners when and where the animal’s ownership can be identified.

I frequently get tweets from constituents whose pets have gone missing, asking me to retweet the pets’ photos and the details of where they were last seen. I am always happy to do so when I can, because I know just how painful and miserable it is to lose a pet and wonder what on earth has happened to it. Most people would prefer to know—

[Sir Tony Cunningham]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Angie Bray]

I will.

[Sir Tony Cunningham]

It is quite enough to lose a pet, but the real cruelty is in just not knowing.

[Angie Bray]

Indeed. The hon. Gentleman caught me mid-sentence, just about to make that point. I was about to say that most people would prefer to know the worst, so at least they could come to terms with that, rather than worrying, with the most appalling imaginings, about what might have happened.

I remember when my dog went missing in Hyde park. I called her Tuppence after I rescued her from Battersea dogs home. She went to the park every day with a friend who looked after her while I worked at LBC radio. Only one day when I came home she was not there. Instead there was a tearful message on my voicemail to say she had run off as soon as the cannons were fired in the park to practise for a forthcoming royal birthday celebration. I went straight back out with a friend to drive round where I could in Hyde park to no avail. I then spent a truly horrendous night worrying about where she might be and what was happening to her. I worried that she was miserable, cold, wet and frightened; then, worse, that she was being teased and tortured by a gang of youths who had found her somewhere. I did not sleep a wink.

Eventually, late the next afternoon, my friend rang to say that she had been found. I will not go into the complicated story—believe me, it is quite complicated—but it seems that a family who had found her and rather wanted to keep her had decided to take her for a check-over at their local vet who also happened to be Tuppence’s local vet. He said, “Ah, you’ve brought Tuppence Bray in. We’ve been looking for her.” I was lucky, as was Tuppence, but the point I wanted to make was that the agony of not knowing was truly awful and there would have been a point when I would rather have been told that she had been found dead than never to know at all what happened to her. That would have stayed with me and continued to haunt me.

It must be borne in mind that those who choose to share our family life with a pet are making a pretty big investment. Obviously, there is the financial cost of food, heating, vet fees and perhaps insurance, but there is also a major emotional investment for most of us, too, just as there is in all family members. I always assumed that that investment was properly recognised, which is why it has always been considered incumbent on organisations such as the Highways Agency to do the decent thing and report a pet’s death to its owner, wherever possible. Not to do so is not only a poor indication of the attitude of officialdom towards us all, but it smacks of carelessness and diminishes the quality of service that we should be able to rely on. Moreover, we should not forget that there is already a legal obligation on us all, as citizens: if we unfortunately kill a dog on the road, we should report that to the police so that they can inform the owner where identification is possible. We must not loosen that requirement—often traumatic but, nevertheless, essential—on ourselves either. We must all play our part.

There is even less excuse now for failing to inform owners than there has been in the past. As many hon. Members have said, we are all being encouraged, and in some cases required, to take advantage of technology and to microchip our pets—certainly our dogs—so that they and their owners can be more readily identified. I thoroughly support that, but when we are using modern technology to make identification easier, it would seem strange to decide that we cannot be bothered to use it for the most basic civility. We most certainly should expect publicly funded agencies such as the police and the Highways Agency to do what is right.

Some people regard us animal lovers as a bit strange, and doubtless some people do go a bit overboard about their beloved pets. I have always believed, however, that the ability to love animals, empathise with them and give them a happy and secure life is an important part of building our kinder, gentler nature. That should be respected, as should all our other relationships. When our pets are tragically killed on our roads, our agencies—in this instance, the Highways Agency—absolutely should show proper respect by having the decency to inform us. There should be no avoiding that, if identification can be made. I can hardly believe that there should be attempts to wriggle out of that public duty, but if there are, I would support making it a legal obligation.