Animal Welfare Bill

That is very interesting, because according to an article in The Times in 2004, the Minister had assured countryside rural sports organisations that there would be an exemption for working dogs. Whether such discussion included the Countryside Alliance, I do not know, but it certainly included a number of other organisations very close to it. It is a pity that the Minister, having said that he was standing up for the countryside and for freedom of choice in the countryside, has been unable to deliver.