FOI Request - Farmed Animal Welfare Laws
Request 101003784790
I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 ('the Act') to request information concerning enforcement of the laws governing the welfare of farmed animals.
Terminology: By 'farmed animals', we refer to animals intended for the food chain, raised on commercial premises.
The premises referred to in this question are:
• Farms keeping animals for commercial use
• Livestock markets that sell and trade live animals
• National and international border control posts
• Vehicles transporting farmed animals for commercial purposes
By 'inspections', we refer to on-site inspections.
By welfare complaints, we are referring to any complaints relating to animal cruelty, neglect, or failure to meet the welfare needs of an animal, whether from members of the public, animal protection organisations, staff members etc.
Please could you provide the following information in relation to farmed animal species only during the period 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024:
1. Do you enforce famed animal welfare legislation?
a) If the answer is no, please explain why e.g. no farms, a different local authority does etc.
b) If a different local authority enforces this legislation in your area, please inform us which one?
If your answer to question 1 is 'no', please do not respond to the below questions.
2. Do you work with another local authority to conduct your farmed animal welfare enforcement and if so which one? Please also clarify whether the below data is likely to be duplicated by them?
3. How many of each of the following in your jurisdiction were inspected for welfare purposes one or more times?
a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.
For the avoidance of doubt, if the same premise was inspected more than once, it should only be recorded once.
4. What was the total number of inspections that were conducted for welfare purposes in your jurisdiction at the following premises?
a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.
Please note that this question refers to the total number of inspections, not premises inspected. Therefore, the numbers can include situations where multiple inspections took place on the same premise.
5. How many of these inspections found non-compliance with animal welfare law at the following premises?
a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport Vehicles.
6. Please list whether a care notice was issued under section 25 of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance at each of the following:
a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders;
d) Transport vehicles.
7. Please list whether a prosecution was commenced on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance with animal welfare law at each of the following:
a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport Vehicles.
8. How many welfare complaints did you receive in relation to the following:
a) On-farm animal welfare;
b) Welfare at markets; and,
c) Welfare during transport
d) Welfare at a border post
9. Of the above complaints, how many led to an on-site inspection?
a) On-farm animal welfare;
b) Welfare at markets;
c) Welfare during transport; and
d) Welfare at border posts.
10. How many prosecution proceedings did you commence for offences named in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 or the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010?
11. How many compliance notices were issued by your inspectors for failures to comply with the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006?
12. How many prosecution proceedings did you commence for offences named in the Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1990?
13. How many prosecution proceedings did you commence for offences named in the The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006?
14. How many individuals subject to any of the above enforcement actions had previously been convicted of an animal welfare offence?
15. What is your body's annual budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement? If you do not have a separate budget, please could you provide the budget for Trading Standards.
16. How many people do you employ to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections as part of their duties? If possible, please provide the response in FTE (Full time equivalent).