Consultation on the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs

Area 8B, No 9 Millbank
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR
Telephone: 0207 238 5991

4 November 2008

Dear Consultee,

1.   I am writing to invite views on the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs.

The code of practice is made under section 14 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (the “2006 Act”) which provides that  the appropriate national authority, in England the Secretary of State, may issue codes of practice for the purpose of providing practical guidance in respect of any provision made by or under the 2006 Act.  Section 9 of the 2006 Act places a statutory duty on all owners and keepers to provide for the welfare needs of animals under their control. 

The proposed code of practice for the welfare of dogs would be made under section 14 of the 2006 Act and would provide practical guidance to owners and keepers of dogs on how to meet their statutory responsibilities under section 9 of the 2006 Act. 

Failure to comply with the code of practice would not in itself be an offence.  However, the code could be used in court proceedings as evidence in support of a prosecution brought under section 9 of the 2006 Act (failure to provide for the welfare needs of an animal).

This consultation is made in line with the requirements of section 15 of the 2006 Act, namely that the Secretary of State will prepare a code, consult as appropriate and consider any subsequent representations.  Once the aforementioned process has been completed, the code will be finalised and laid before both Houses of Parliament for approval.  Once Parliament approves the code, it will enter into force on a common commencement day – likely to be either 6 April or 1 October 2009 but Defra will issue a press release and information will be made available in advance on the Defra website (www.defra.gov.uk) about this date.       

2.   The following documents may be found on Defra’s website: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/welfare-dogs-cop/index.htm

3.   We welcome your views and comments in general but specifically on the content of the code. 

4.   The attached list of consultees is not exhaustive - we welcome comments from anyone.  If there is any organisation that is not included on the list that you think would like to contribute then please make them aware of this letter and enclosures, which can be accessed through the Defra web site.

5.  If you wish to obtain a copy of this consultation, please contact Elaine Cannon.

Responses

Please send responses to either: Elaine Cannon, Area 8B, No 9 Millbank, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR  Telephone: 020 7238 5332

Or email: Animalwelfareconsultations@defra.gsi.gov.uk clearly stating the name of the consultation in the subject header.  Eg: Code of Practice - Dogs.

6.  Responses should be received by 31st December 2008.  This is a shorter than usual deadline for government consultations because the draft cat code is based heavily on the one produced by the Assembly for Wales which was subject to wide consultation.   

Consultation Criteria

7.   This consultation is in line with the Code of Practice on Consultations. This can be found at www.berr.gov.uk/bre/  When this consultation ends, we intend to put a copy of the responses in the Defra library at Ergon House, London. This is so that the public can see them.  Also, members of the public may ask for a copy of responses under freedom of information legislation.

8.  If you do not want your response - including your name, contact details and any other personal information – to be publicly available, please say so clearly in writing when you send your response to the consultation.  Please note, if your computer automatically includes a confidentiality disclaimer, that won’t count as a confidentiality request.

9. Please explain why you need to keep details confidential.  We will take your reasons into account if someone asks for this information under freedom of information legislation. But, because of the law, we cannot promise that we will always be able to keep those details confidential. 

We will summarise all responses and place this summary on our website at www.defra.gov.uk/resources/consultation/index.htm.  This summary will include a list of names of organisations that responded but not people’s personal names, addresses or other contact details. 

To see consultation responses and summaries, please contact the library at:

Defra
Information Resource Centre
Lower Ground Floor
Ergon House
17 Smith Square
London
SW1P 3JR

Telephone: 020-7238-6575
Email:  defra.library@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Please give the library 24 hours’ notice.  There is a charge for photocopying and postage.

  • If you have any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address them to Marjorie Addo, Defra’s Consultation Co-ordinator, Area 7C Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR, or email consultation.coordinator@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
  • If you have any queries please contact us using the details in paragraph 5 above.

Yours faithfully

Henry Hoppe
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Page published: 4 November 2008