A.—2

22

panied by a letter addressed to " The Secretary, Board of Agriculture, 4, Whitehall Place, London, 5.W.," explaining the circumstances under which the application is made, and stating how long the dog has been in the possession and personal charge of the applicant. It is to be understood, however, that an application is not necessarily followed by the issue of a license to-land the dog, and that the Board cannot sanction the landing of dogs which usually live abroad, but which their owners while on a visit to this country wish to bring with them. 4. Every application must be made by the person who will be the owner of the dog during the period of detention in this country, and it should be forwarded in sufficient time to enable the Board to make full inquiries into the circumstances and as to the suitability of the premises in which it is proposed that the dog should be isolated, and to permit of their decision being communicated to the applicant before the dog is embarked. Masters of vessels cannot properly accept a dog for shipment to Great Britain from abroad unless the license is produced at the port of embarkation, and they are liable to prosecution if the dog is landed illegally. 5. In order that the Board may have it on record that the conditions on which alone a license can be issued are fully understood, the applicant must sign the undertaking set out in one or other of the forms. 6. Unless the dog to be imported has, at the date of the application, been in the personal charge of the applicant during the preceding three months, the Board can only authorise its landing under a license (Form A) requiring the detention and isolation of the dog for six months. Such licenses are only issued where arrangements have previously been made for the detention of the dog for that period at an isolation-station approved by the Board, at the expense of the owner, and at his risk. At the present time the only isolation-station so approved is the Dog Sanatorium, Beddington Lane, Mitcham, Surrey, to the manager of which establishment communications respecting terms, &c, should be addressed. 7. Dogs landed with licenses (Form A) should be forwarded in crates or hampers, and with the utmost possible expedition, to the isolation-station. 8. If, however, the applicant is able to declare that the dog has been in his personal charge for three months, he may apply for a license (Form B) which requires the detention of a dog for a period of six months on some suitable private premises to be specified by the applicant, and approved by the Board, where the dog will be under the supervision of the officers of the Board and of the local authority, for whose inspection it should be produced when required. If, however, the general conditions imposed are properly carried out, the Board are prepared, on the production of a certificate of a duly qualified veterinary surgeon that the dog is not affected with, or suspected of, rabies, to consider applications for the release of the dog after a period of ninety days. 9. The applicant's private place of residence is regarded in most instances as a suitable place of detention for a dog detained under a license (Form B), provided that he is the householder, and that no other dogs are kept upon the premises. Hotels, flats, lodgings, barracks, or other similar premises where the dog cannot be conveniently isolated, or where the owner of the dog cannot guarantee that the animal can be detained for the full period required by the Board, are not regarded as suitable places of detention. For a similar reason private residences are seldom suitable where more than one dog is to be imported. If the applicant has no fixed residence where the dog can be kept under his own charge, arrangements should be made for the detention of the dog for the necessary period at an isolation-station, or on the premises of an experienced veterinary surgeon. 10. On arrival at a port in Great Britain, and before the dog can be landed, the holder of the license is required to produce it for the inspection of the officer of Her Majesty's Customs. 11. The license requires the dog, when landed, to be taken by the nearest available route, and without unnecessary delay, to the premises specified therein, and the arrival of the dog there must at once be notified in writing to the Board. 12. Where, however, dogs admitted under a license (Form B) are landed late in the day, and the place of detention is distant from the port, the Board do not object to the journey of the dog being broken by its detention at some suitable place for one night, provided that it is kept apart from all other dogs, and that the journey is thereafter completed with reasonable despatch. 13. The license should be retained by the person in charge of the dog, who is responsible for compliance with the conditions prescribed in the license. The license must be returned to the Board at the end of the period of detention, or at once if it is not made use of. 14. The dog cannot in any case be moved from the place of detention to other premises in the United Kingdom without a further license from the Board. Where the Board are satisfied that exceptional circumstances have arisen which render the removal of a dog detained under a license (Form B) necessary or expedient, they are prepared to consider an application for a removal license, provided it is not proposed to remove the dog from a rural to an urban district, or from the original premises to a less suitable place of detention. Unless the dog is to be taken from the private residence of the owner to another house in his occupation, the premises of an experienced veterinary surgeon should be specified as the place of detention, and the removal cannot be authorised unless the dog can be detained at the second address for the remainder of the period of detention. 15. Where satisfactory arrangements of the character above indicated cannot be made by the owner, the dog must be detained at the premises first specified, or removed to such place as the Board may direct. 16. During the period of detention under a license (Form B) the dog, when temporarily moved for exercise as provided in the license, must be properly muzzled with a wire-cage muzzle, and in charge of a competent person, and the former condition is also applicable when the dog is likely at any time to be brought into contact with other dogs.