Animal Welfare Bill

As a former chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Greyhound Group, I should pay a genuine tribute to my noble friend Lord Lipsey for his excellent stewardship of the British Greyhound Racing Board. He has transformed the whole ethos of that board and the greyhound industry generally. We owe him a great debt of gratitude, and long may he continue to give his service to, as he said, a very important sporting industry in the UK. Does the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, agree that the regulation of independent, unlicensed greyhound tracks is of vital importance if real progress on greyhound development and welfare is to be achieved?