Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Monday, 26 February 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 28 February 2007. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Friday, 2 March 2007 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dogs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if he will ensure that legally docked working dogs continue to be allowed to take part in agility, working trials and obedience shows where the public is admitted on the payment of a fee;

Answer: There will be a ban on the showing of docked dogs at events to which members of the public are admitted on payment of a fee. However, this ban does not apply to dogs shown for the purpose of demonstrating their working ability.Any dog which has had all or part of its tail removed after the commencement date¹ will be banned from being shown at events to which members of the public are admitted on payment of a fee. This will close a potential loophole in the law.

Secondary information