Petition · past parliament

Facilitate the interim release of seized dogs during COVID-19 pandemic

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

release seized dogs with appropriate safety conditions and relax the neutering requirement for exempted dogs during the Covid-19 pandemic
Kennelling dogs pending court causes welfare & emotional problems for dogs/owners, it also drains police resources. Many dogs are returned by courts so release with conditions in the interim needs to be urgently undertaken. Hearings are being delayed; vets are not neutering which prevents dogs going home. DEFRA must relax exemption rules on neutering and all seized dogs in police custody released. Dogs can be kept on leads/muzzles in public and insured for third party to ensure public safety.

Why it was rejected

It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.

Decisions about taking action, including seizure and release, of dangerous or banned dogs are a matter for the police and courts, not the Government or House of Commons.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/

Timeline

3 Apr 2020 Petition opened for signatures
28 May 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 18
Status Rejected
Rejected 28 May 2020

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.