Animal Welfare Bill

As I remember, I was speaking of the research proposal put out by Defra. Only one application had been submitted which was not considered to be of the quality required. I also mentioned the evaluation of such proposals by university ethical committees. Apparently it was felt that this was not an ethical piece of work to undertake; that is, to deliberately inflict pain on a dog wearing such a collar. As a result, Defra has approached the Companion Animal Welfare Council, of which I am chairman, to undertake an objective and balanced review of the use of electronic training aids. We have agreed to do this, and we estimate that it will take us somewhere between six and nine months to assess all the evidence. There is a substantial amount of evidence pro and anti the use of these training collars. There are the questions of the nature of the shock, the volume of the electronic stimulus and alternatives that may be used. One such alternative is a spurt of citronella, which is not painful at all. Whether that will produce an equivalent amount of control is something we will have to determine. The Companion Animal Welfare Council is determined that this will be an objective and balanced evaluation of those electronic training aids that have aroused a remarkable amount of lobbying papers—I am sure every Member of the Committee has had them—and we hope we can reach a balanced and objective conclusion. I hope the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, might accept that we hope in due course to produce the sort of evidence everyone is looking for so that a much more balanced opinion can be formed about the use of these collars.