Written question asked by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Monday, 26 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 29 October 2009. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Monday, 2 November 2009 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dogs: Quarantine

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations his Department has received on proposals to exempt search and rescue dogs from quarantine when they enter the UK from search and rescue missions in parts of the world which mammals are required to be quarantined.

Answer: [holding answer 29 October 2009]: The hon. Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) raised the case of the rescue dog Darcy with the Secretary of State, and we have subsequently received a number of representations about this case.The Government recognise the excellent work carried out by search and rescue dogs in responding to overseas disasters, such as the recent earthquake in Indonesia, and their rapid and valuable response to such emergencies.We also appreciate the difficulty the current quarantine requirements cause for owners of these rescue dogs, particularly the rule requiring that dogs coming into the UK from certain countries, including Indonesia, are placed in quarantine on their arrival. This long standing rule is in place to protect the UK from the incursion of serious diseases such as rabies.DEFRA officials are discussing the specific case of Darcy the search and rescue dog with representatives from the Essex Fire and Rescue Service. We are considering within the current requirements how to minimise the burden our quarantine our quarantine rules place on these animals, particularly on their training programme, but the requirements are important and need to be observed.

Secondary information