March 1897.] 



PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 



419 



PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 



Committee on Laws 'relating to Dogs. Report of the Depart- 

 mental Committee appointed by the Board of Agriculture 

 to inquire into and report upon the working of the Laws 

 relating to Dogs, with Copy of the Minute appointing the 

 Committee. [(7.-8820.] * Price 2d. 



This Committee, which was appointed on the 30th April 1896, 

 held 13 meetings, examined 27 witnesses, and, on the 27th 

 January last, issued a Report containing recommendations of 

 which the following summary is given : — 



J. That the Board of Agriculture in Great Britain and, in the 

 case of Ireland, the Lord Lieutenant and Privy Council, 

 should make a determined effort to stamp out rabies by 

 exercising directly the powers which they already possess 

 under the Diseases of Animals Act. 



2. That, following the extirpation of rabies, a general Collar 



and Registration of Dogs Order should be imposed 

 in Great Britain and Ireland in order to procure more 

 efficient control over dogs, and to diminish the evils 

 which are caused by stray and ownerless dogs. 



3. That in order to prevent the introduction of rabies into 



the United Kingdom, the Board of Agriculture in Great 

 Britain and Lord Lieutenant and the Privy Council in 

 Ireland should exercise the statutory powers which have 

 been conferred upon them with a view to regulating 

 and controlling the importation of dogs from abroad, 



4. That in Great Britain it should be made — 



(i.) The statutory duty of the police to aid in the 

 enforcement of the law relating to dog-licence 

 duties. 



(li.) That the whole, and not as at present a moiety, 

 of any penalties recovered by the police, or on 

 information supplied by them, should be paid over 

 to the Police Superannuation Fund, or otherwise 

 applied for their benefit. 



(iii.) That lists of licences taken out, subdivided in a 

 form convenient for reference, should be supplied by 

 the Board of Inland Revenue to the various police 

 forces. 



5. That the determination of questions of exemption of 



farmers' and shepherds' dogs from dog-licence duty, and 

 the issue of certificates of exemption, should be transferred, 

 as far as England and Wales are concerned, from the 

 Board of Inland Revenue to justices in petty sessions 



O 95711. E 



