Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 09 May 2024
09 May 2024 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
The Scottish Government also agrees with the attention to detail in ensuring that sections of the bill are consistent with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021, including with regard to points such as the need for the buyer to see a dog with its mother; making the requirement to confirm a dog’s age the responsibility of both the acquirer and the person selling or giving away the dog; and the requirement for a certificate to be part of a new code of practice, rather than a separate requirement. Finally, the Government agrees with the removal of part 2 of the bill.
I acknowledge that the Scottish Government has powers to create a new code of practice or guidance under sections 37 and 38 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. That act was designed with future resilience in mind and it provides powers to add new codes of practice or guidance.
I look forward to hearing the rest of the debate and working closely with Christine Grahame and the committee members as the bill progresses.
15:30In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur)
LD
We resume business. However, I will just say that this is follow-on business, so it is more than a bit disappointing that so many members were absent at the ...
Christine Grahame (Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale) (SNP)
SNP
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. As one of the culprits, I apologise. I welcome today’s debate and the progress that it represents. To members who ca...
Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP)
SNP
The member makes a very good case as to why new legislation is necessary. My understanding is that her bill would include a code. Could she say why she feels...
Christine Grahame
SNP
Heaven forfend Dr Allan would offend me. I will come to that point. The evidence that was provided to the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee reflects the v...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I can give you a little bit of extra time, Ms Grahame.
Christine Grahame
SNP
Thank you very much. Part 2 seeks to establish a register of unlicensed litters, and I remain passionately committed to the policy behind that proposal. At ...
Finlay Carson (Galloway and West Dumfries) (Con)
Con
I am pleased to speak on behalf of the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, reflecting on our stage 1 inquiry and report on Christine Grahame’s member’s bill...
Russell Findlay (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
Excuse my ignorance on the matter, but there is a significant involvement of organised crime in dog breeding in Scotland and I wonder whether, during its inq...
Finlay Carson
Con
We do not have any specifics about that, but everyone on the committee certainly understood that organised crime, gangs and so on could play a big part in th...
The Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity (Jim Fairlie)
SNP
I am someone who has had dogs in his life from the age of eight, when I got my first Labrador pup, called Pepper, until very recently—a period of just shy of...
Finlay Carson
Con
I welcome Christine Grahame’s bill. The committee heard Gillian Martin, who was the minister at the time, say that she agreed with almost everything that Chr...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
I cannot say why something has not been done in the past, but I can say that the Government takes the commitment seriously and that the code that Christine G...
Christine Grahame
SNP
I have considered that. Like the minister, I appreciate that there are good people—such as farmers, the police and the owners of guide dogs for the blind—who...
Jim Fairlie
SNP
The Scottish Government also agrees with the attention to detail in ensuring that sections of the bill are consistent with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of A...
Maurice Golden (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
I congratulate Christine Grahame on introducing the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill and on her concerted efforts during my time in Parliament to improve anim...
Christine Grahame
SNP
I would resist being more breed specific, because that would start to clutter up the rather simple questions with regard to the breed. If someone considers t...
Maurice Golden
Con
I think that that makes a lot of sense. It has been suggested that there could be type-specific information, too, but we could very quickly start to go down ...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I, too, put on record my recognition of Christine Grahame’s work on the welfare of dogs and on the illegal puppy trade. She has done a lot of work in the Par...
Christine Grahame
SNP
I will go into more detail when I sum up, but the UK has come quite a distance on this. It has been suggested that, if there is a portal for all the individu...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Ms Grant, I can give you time back for the intervention.
Rhoda Grant
Lab
I am grateful for that intervention, as it highlights that the many companies that deal with microchip registers could come together and make them available ...
Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I think that five companies provide microchips across the United Kingdom. The problem is not so much collating the information from those microchips but the ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
Again, I can give you the time back, Ms Grant.
Rhoda Grant
Lab
Yes, it does need more thought. That is not a criticism of Christine Grahame, because there is a limit to what any back-bench member of the Parliament can in...
Ariane Burgess (Highlands and Islands) (Green)
Green
Earlier this year, I was horrified to find out about a case of illegal and cruel puppy farming in Inverness, in my region. A couple had rented out their cott...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
LD
I remind members that those who are participating in the debate need to be in the chamber for both the opening and the closing speeches. We move to the open...
Clare Haughey (Rutherglen) (SNP)
SNP
I thank Christine Grahame for her work so far on the bill, which addresses issues that I know are very close to her heart. I also thank the committee for its...
Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
I add my congratulations to Christine Grahame on introducing the bill. I also congratulate her on resisting the temptation to burst into song during her spee...
Emma Harper (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
As recently as February this year, 24 cockapoo and cavapoo puppies were discovered in a dire situation. They were confined in cardboard boxes under a lorry c...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
Speak through the chair, please.