Actions for animal welfare in Scottish Government programme, welcomed by vets
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has today (4 September 2019) welcomed several key commitments to animal welfare, laid out by the Scottish Government in a programme of action for the coming years.
The pledges made in the Programme for Government in 2019 and 2020 include recruiting members to its Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which will provide advice on the welfare of sentient animals and bringing forward secondary legislation on the compulsory introduction of CCTV to all abattoirs to make sure that slaughter is carried out safely and humanely.
Another key commitment is to take a robust and modern approach to licenses for the breeding of dogs, cats and rabbits as well as pet sellers, animal sanctuaries and rehoming services.
The Scottish Government have also committed to several measures concerning sustainability and land-use and plan to launch a new Agricultural Transformation Programme for farming and food production.
Commenting on the news, BVA President, Simon Doherty said:
“It’s great to see such a robust and comprehensive list of commitments to animal welfare from the Scottish Government, in their latest programme of action. Scotland are taking the lead with a number of these pledges and we hope that England and other devolved nations will follow suit.
“BVA has campaigned on many of these key commitments and we are particularly supportive of the plans to launch a media campaign for responsible dog ownership. Our own pre-purchase advice and involvement with ‘the puppy contract’ complements this. We strongly support the mandatory introduction of CCTV to Scottish abattoirs as this is an essential tool for Official Veterinarians to help make sure that animal health and welfare standards are upheld.
“It is excellent to see a commitment to sustainable land use and use of natural resources, two points that we mirror in our position on UK sustainable animal agriculture. I was also delighted to see a commitment to aquaculture with the 10-year Farmed Fish Health Framework to address the health and wellbeing of farmed fish. We look forward to seeing these commitments put into action and are happy to work with the Scottish Government to achieve them.”
