Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support mechanisms are available to farmers whose livestock are condemned following tapeworm infection transmitted from dogs on agricultural land or public rights of way.

Tapeworm infections are not notifiable diseases. No compensation is provided for farmers whose livestock are condemned following tapeworm infection transmitted from dogs on agricultural land or public rights of way. Only a very small number of livestock carcases each year are condemned following tapeworm infection. Most are slaughtered before infection develops.

The Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs was presented to Parliament in December 2017. It makes clear that there is a legal obligation for a handler to clean up after their dog (Welfare of Dogs). Similarly, the statutory guidance within the Countryside Code: Advice for Countryside Visitors, updated 01 April 2021 (Countryside Code) highlights the risk of illness to people and livestock, and sets out that dog handlers must clean up after the dog. It is of paramount importance to break the cycle of transmission by deworming dogs.