Scottish Animal Welfare Commission: future attendance at parliamentary committee meetings - letter to Cabinet Secretary

Mairi Gougeon MSP
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP

c/o Scottish Animal Welfare Commission Secretariat
Animal Health and Welfare Team
P-Spur, Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
Edinburgh
EH11 3XDSAWC.Secretariat@gov.scot

13 July 2022

Dear Cabinet Secretary,

On behalf of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC), I’d like to thank you for your ongoing support and promotion of the Commission.

It has been another busy 12 months for SAWC. As Covid restrictions have eased, members have been able to engage in more face-to-face activity. For example, earlier in the year, members of SAWC’s Aquaculture Working Group visited a fish farm in Argyll to learn more about the interaction between salmon and marine predators, and in April, members of SAWC’s Dog Training working group met stakeholders to gather evidence on welfare issues associated with electronic training aids for dogs, and at the end of May, I represented SAWC at EuroFAWC’s annual meeting in Berlin. 

SAWC has also had representation at some parliamentary committee meetings, including most recently at a RAINE Committee evidence gathering session on the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill on 15 June. I anticipate that members will be invited to other parliamentary committee meetings in future, and members have expressed an interest in attending where possible. 

I would very much welcome formal approval from you for SAWC to attend future Committee meetings of a similar nature, in order for SAWC to continue to express its position on animal welfare issues to a wider audience.

I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you about the work of SAWC at the recent BVA Scottish Dinner on 17 May at the Scottish Parliament. I’d also like to remind you of SAWC’s next plenary meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday 29 September. You would be very welcome to attend, and I understand that the SAWC Secretariat will issue you with further details in due course.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Cathy Dwyer

Chair

Scottish Animal Welfare Commission