TORY MP Nigel Evans has urged the Government to move speedily to scrap the quarantine laws that his predecessor Lord Waddington believes cost the life of his pet dog.

In the House of Commons, Ribble Valley member Mr Evans said the laws were outdated and caused great distress.

He told leader of the Commons Margaret Beckett there were 12 million pet owners in Britain and that between 1972 and 1995, 170,000 were put into quarantine for six months and 2,100 of them died.

He highlighted the example of Lord Waddington's 12-year-old Norfolk terrier Basil, who died during the six months in kennels on his return from being Governor of Bermuda.

Mr Evans said kennels were expensive - between £800 for cats and £1,500 for dogs - with variable standards.

He said it caused people great distress to be separated from their pets and said that new technology could create special "pet passports" in which micro chips could be put into the animals necks to conclusively identify them for inoculation and medical checks.

He said this would keep rabies out of Britain as well as quarantine at far less cost in cash and emotional terms.

In particular, he asked that the blind to be given an early exemption for guide dogs.

Mrs Beckett promised to bring these points to the attention of her fellow Cabinet ministers.

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