Mr. Finbarr Heslin:

There are mountains of information on the differences between the systems across Europe that involve veterinary certified data, lay certified data or - in my view, this is worse - owner-certified data. If an owner is involved in the production, identification and sale of pups, there are loads of reasons he or she will not want to do that honestly. The comeback can range from Revenue to welfare. Across Europe, there are over 100 million pets in the Europetnet system. We know that in countries which predominantly use a system of veterinary certification, the quality of the data is better. Unfortunately, members will have seen reports of the horrendous situation in Dublin where there was a decapitated dog.