Scottish Animal Welfare Commission minutes: 24 February 2026

Attendees and apologies

Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) members

• Cathy Dwyer, Chair
• Libby Anderson
• Mike Radford
• Mike Flynn
• Paula Boyden
• Marie Haskell
• Pete Goddard
• James Yeates

Animal Welfare Committee

• Madeleine Campbell, Chair

London School of Economics

• Dr Jonathan Birch

Scottish Government

• Andrew Voas – Veterinary Head of Animal Welfare
• Simon Girling – Veterinary Adviser, Animal Welfare Team
• Sam Turner – Leader, Wildlife Management Team
• Andy McKinlay – Policy Officer and Secretariat Support, Animal Welfare Team

Apologies

• Ellie Wigham, SAWC Member
• Andrew Kitchener, SAWC Member
• Harvey Carruthers, SAWC Member

Items and actions

Welcome

The Chair welcomed everyone to the first plenary meeting of 2026. 

Updates and Activity since last plenary meeting

SAWC

Since the last plenary meeting in November 2025 SAWC has:

Published its annual report on its activity

Published a report on abattoir provisions and opportunities for mobile slaughterhouses in Scotland

Published a report providing recommendations on animal welfare indicators which could form part of measures in future iterations of the Scottish Government’s Good Food Nation Plan

Published a revised work plan

Responded to an Animal Welfare Committee call for views on electric stunning of poultry

SAWC received and responded to correspondence on a variety of issues, including on:

• St Kilda sheep
• the practice of trimming horse tails
• dog welfare

SAWC’s working groups have continued to work on a range of animal welfare issues (see Work Group Updates section below)

Scottish Government

Officials continue to monitor and work with  DEFRA on issues which may extend to Scotland or have a potential impact in Scotland

A joint consultation with Defra, the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive is now open, on proposals to reform the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966

Work is ongoing on several Scottish Parliament bills:

• Welfare of Dogs
• Dog Theft
• Greyhound Racing (Offences)

Work is ongoing in several other areas, including on:

• Licensing of canine fertility services
• Castration and tail docking of lambs
• Livestock transport between islands and mainland Scotland; and welfare of trade
• Equine welfare

Animal Welfare Committee

An update was provided by Madeleine Campbell, Chair of AWC, on some of its ongoing work, including activity around the following areas:

• Livestock breeding
• Fur – responsible sourcing
• Laying hen welfare in non-cage systems
• Safeguarding the welfare of farmed animals from the effects of climate change
• Poultry stunning

Work Group Updates

Isolated Feral Animals

At the November 2025 plenary meeting and in response to a request from the CVO Scotland, members agreed to set up a new working group to consider the moral and ethical issues for landowners associated with the management of feral animals in Scotland, including the sheep on St Kilda, and to produce a collective opinion on welfare issues for these animals.  The working group has met several times.

Sentience

General work on the consideration of sentience is ongoing, including on foetal sentience.

Wildlife Welfare

SAWC and NatureScot met to exchange current work activities in December, and also plan to have a follow up meeting soon.

An update on SG wildlife management work was also delivered, including on the Natural Environment Bill passing through Parliament and ongoing work by NatureScot on urban gulls.

Local Authorities Handling Animal Welfare Issues

The working group continues to discuss these issues and engage with local authorities and other stakeholders across Scotland to learn about the issues they face.

Animal Experiences

Members continue to engage with stakeholders, discussing the welfare of animals used under a variety of different types of management, including the lives of these animals when not on exhibit/in use and how to measure their well-being.

Equine Welfare

Members are continuing to look into issues around equine welfare for leisure horses in Scotland, receiving insights from stakeholder meetings and evidence from publications.

Review of 2006 Act

3 sub-work groups continue to discuss the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, with the aim of reporting on and reviewing it, 20 years on, focusing on:

• Legislation
• Science
• Public Attitudes

“The Edge of Sentience” presentation

Dr Jonathan Birch, Professor of Philosophy at LSE and Principal Investigator on the Foundations of Animal Sentience project, delivered a presentation to the members.

Work Plan Discussion

Members published a revised work plan in December.

Next Meeting/s

The next plenary meeting will take place on Thursday 14th May 2026.

Any other business

Cathy thanked departing members Marie Haskell, Mike Flynn and James Yeates for all their work and contributions to SAWC since its establishment in 2020. Departing members may continue to input into working groups they have been involved with.  New members will be appointed soon.

The next annual EuroFAWC meeting will take place in Brussels in June.  This marks the 20th anniversary of EuroFAWC.