Animal Welfare Bill

I appreciate that my noble friend’s amendment is a probing amendment, but I make the perhaps obvious point that if such an amendment were to be accepted, it would create enormous disquiet and frustration among those involved with working dogs. I appreciate that they and others have been in lengthy discussions with the Government. Such an amendment would completely undermine the concessions that have been so laboriously achieved. I pay tribute to the noble Lord and his fellow Ministers in the other place for having listened to the arguments and come forward with a pretty sensible compromise. I just hope that we do not unravel that. My information is that the Kennel Club seems fairly content. Most breeders that I know are content about it, and certainly most rural vets. I have only spoken to two, but they seem satisfied with the outcome. I cannot believe that such people would support the continued docking of tails for certain working dogs unless they thought there was a very good reason to do so, and that it would not be debilitating for the animal concerned. From a personal perspective, I have witnessed the docking of the tails of spaniels that I have bred and I have never seen any signs of adverse effects. I certainly would not subject my dogs to anything I believed would inconvenience them or harm them in any way. The real point I want to make is this: let us not unravel this well-constructed compromise which the Government and those in the industry, if I can call it that, have managed to draw up.