AQW 28151/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 17/01/2022
Answered On Date: 01/02/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs how his Department regulates canine fertility clinics in Northern Ireland.

Answer:

There is no currently no legal requirement for canine fertility clinics to be regulated in Northern Ireland, a similar position to that which exists in the other jurisdictions within the United Kingdom.

The Welfare of Animals (Northern Ireland) 2011 (“the 2011 Act”), however, requires that any procedure which involves interference with the sensitive tissue or bone structure of an animal must be carried out by a qualified veterinarian. This includes canine artificial insemination. A lay person would therefore be considered to be in breach of the 2011 Act should it be proven that he or she had carried out such a procedure on an animal.

Where the animal involved is not a farmed animal, responsibility for prosecuting any breaches of the 2011 Act and associated regulations rests with the local councils, , .