MPs criticise Government’s “inadequate” response on dangerous dogs
The cross-party Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has accused the Government of failing to respond adequately to public concern over dog attacks and poor dog welfare. The Committee said that more must be done to ensure that dog breeders do more to stop poor breeding practices, including of pedigree dogs, and legislation must be amended urgently to protect the public from dangerous dogs.
The criticism came as the Committee launched a report of its inquiry into Dog Control and Welfare on 15 February. It followed the announcement by the Government of changes to the law to introduce, among other measures, the compulsory microchipping of all dogs in England from April 2016 – a measure already in force in Northern Ireland.
Undercover footage, aired on television and the internet and appearing to show abuse and neglect of horses at an abattoir in Cheshire has led to an investigation by the Food Standards Agency and two slaughtermen having their licences withdrawn. The video was shot by the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norwich, which has a record of campaigning against ill-treatment of farm animals.
Two American law students have been charged with decapitating a Guinea fowl at a wildlife sanctuary in Las Vegas, according to reports in the local press and in the US legal blog Above the Law. The alleged crime took place in October, although charges were only brought on 2 January.
The UK Government has prevented an automatic cut in quotas for North Sea cod and the number of days that fishermen are allowed to spend at sea, following the latest round of negotiations in Brussels.
Code-breaking experts at GCHQ are said to be 'satisfied' that the pigeon-borne message assumed to have been sent during World War Two cannot be decoded without access to the original cryptographic material.