Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Covid-19 Zoo Animal Fund.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Zoo Support Fund and subsequent Zoos Animal Fund were set up to help those zoos and aquariums most effected by the coronavirus pandemic. No formal assessments of the schemes have been carried out but both funds aimed to avoid unnecessary euthanasia of zoo animals due to income reductions and to preserve animal welfare.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Covid 19 Zoo Support Fund.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Zoo Support Fund and subsequent Zoos Animal Fund were set up to help those zoos and aquariums most effected by the coronavirus pandemic. No formal assessments of the schemes have been carried out but both funds aimed to avoid unnecessary euthanasia of zoo animals due to income reductions and to preserve animal welfare.
Asked by: Kevan Jones (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) dogs and (b) horses in service with the Armed Forces have been euthanised in each of the last five years up to 28 June 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Our working animals provide an invaluable service to our troops, and every effort is made to rehome them at the end of their service life. Decisions are taken by the Military Working Animal rehoming board following an extensive assessment of the animals and any potential new home. Sadly, there are some occasions where it is not possible to rehome an animal safely. Service animals are only euthanised for one of two reasons; either due to a veterinary condition causing unnecessary suffering or because the animal poses an unacceptable risk to public safety.
Collation and verification of Military Working Animal End of Service data, including information on deaths and euthanasia, is undertaken annually. The below table reflects the number of Military Working Dogs (MWDs) and Military Working Horses (MWHs) euthanised in the calendar years 2018 to 2022. All were carried out by qualified veterinary surgeons.
Calendar Year | Reason for Euthanasia | |||
Veterinary condition causing unnecessary suffering | Unacceptable risk to safety | |||
MWDs | MWHs | MWDs | MWHs | |
2018 | 29 | 11 | 10 | 0 |
2019 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
2020 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
2021 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
2022 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 0 |
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on devolving powers in relation to assisted dying.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
There have been no discussions with the Welsh Government on devolving powers in relation to assisted dying.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department holds data on the (a) number and (b) reasons of people who have requested assisted dying from a medical practitioner.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government does not collect data on the number or reasons of people who have requested assisted dying from a medical practitioner.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, what consideration they have given to the possibility of that legislation causing further welfare problems through the stress to cats caused by (1) trapping, (2) confinement, and (3) euthanasia.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the draft Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, only owned cats are required to be microchipped. The Regulations will not apply to free living cats that live with little or no human interaction or dependency, such as farm, feral or community cats.
Asked by: James Daly (Conservative - Bury North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure that healthy animals are not euthanised by vets prior to consultation with the owner.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, we worked closely with the veterinary profession to provide greater assurance that alternatives to euthanasia are explored before a healthy dog is put down. Following these discussions, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVCS) agreed to incorporate the principle of scanning a microchip before such euthanasia into the guidance that underpins their Code of Professional Conduct. This applies to all veterinary surgeons practising in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing the law on assisted dying.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government has no plans to review the law on assisted dying. It remains our view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter for Parliament to decide and an issue of conscience for individual parliamentarians rather than one for Government policy.
The Health and Social Care Select Committee launched an inquiry on assisted dying on 5 December and the Government will consider the Committee’s report in due course.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the devolution of responsibility for assisted dying.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
There have been no discussions with the Welsh Government about responsibility for the law on assisted dying being devolved to Wales.
Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to prevent healthy dogs from being euthanised in the UK.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
We committed in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to seek greater assurance that alternatives to euthanasia are explored before a healthy dog is put down.
In 2021, we worked closely with the veterinary profession to develop an approach that works for all parties. Following these discussions, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RVCS) agreed to incorporate the principle of microchip scanning before euthanasia into the guidance that underpins their Code of Professional Conduct. This applies to all veterinary surgeons practising in the United Kingdom.
The Code requires veterinary surgeons to scan for a microchip in dogs prior to euthanasia where, in their professional judgement, it is not necessary to put the dog down on animal health or welfare grounds. Checking the details on the relevant microchip database reveals who the animal's registered keepers are and can also alert the veterinary surgeon to anyone else who may have an interest in the animal. This may include rescue centres which have entered support back-up information on the microchip record. This information can help inform consideration about alternatives to euthanasia. We continue to engage with the RCVS about how these changes are working in practice.
In addition, we recently held a consultation to seek views on changes to current microchipping legislation which, if adopted, may make it easier and simpler for veterinary surgeons when they apply this RCVS guidance.