Scottish Animal Welfare Commission minutes: 27 August 2026

Attendees and apologies

Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) members

• Cathy Dwyer, Chair
• Libby Anderson
• Paula Boyden
• Mike Radford
• Pete Goddard
• Ellie Wigham
• Andrew Kitchener
• Ben Sturgeon
• Gilly Mendes Ferreira
• Charlotte Burn
• Iain McKendrick

Guest

• Dr Fritha Langford

Scottish Government

• Simon Girling – Veterinary Adviser, Animal Welfare Team
• Andy McKinlay – Policy Officer and Secretariat Support, Animal Welfare Team

Items and actions

Welcome

This was the third plenary meeting of 2026.  The Chair welcomed all of the SAWC members, and also announced that Harvey Carruthers has stepped down as a Commissioner.  Subject to Ministerial approval, Dr Fritha Langford will be recruited as a new SAWC Commissioner, and introductions were shared with all the members.

Updates and Activity since last plenary meeting

SAWC

Since the last plenary meeting in May 2026 SAWC has:

Sent a letter to the Cabinet Secretary, regarding animal welfare aspects of the annual Guga Hunt

Cathy represented SAWC at the annual EuroFAWC meeting, which took place in Bruges on 17-18 June

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

• Positive lists for pets
• Trade in wild species kept as pets, including primates
• Operational welfare indicators for rainbow trout
• Fish welfare
• Horse welfare

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

Scottish Government

New Welfare of Equids guidance has been published

Officials continue to monitor and work with  DEFRA on issues which may extend to Scotland or have a potential impact in Scotland through the SPS re-alignment

Work is ongoing in several other areas, including on:

• Licensing of canine fertility services
• Castration and tail docking of lambs
• The phasing out of the use of cages in Scotland’s laying hen sector
• Welfare and husbandry of farmed fish guideline development
• Microchipping of cats
• Promotion of good welfare for dogs on the back of the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2025

Animal Welfare Commission

A written update was provided by the AWC Secretariat, on some of its ongoing work:

Current live projects:

• Welfare of farmed fish in Great Britain pre-slaughter
• How to safeguard the welfare of farmed animals from the effects of climate change, Part 1 poultry
• WAK – Poultry electrical stunning

Recently completed projects:

• Laying hen welfare in non-cage systems.  Submitted by AWC to government on 10 July 2026

Work Group Updates

Isolated Feral Animals

SAWC is drafting its report on the welfare issues of isolated feral animals in Scotland, including the St Kilda Sheep.  The aim is to publish the report within the next several weeks.

Sentience

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

Wildlife Welfare

SAWC and NatureScot held a meeting in August.  At this meeting, they discussed various issues, including:

• gull management in urban situations
• moorland management
• foetal sentience
• competency around deer shooting

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

SAWC is drafting its report on 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.  The aim is to publish the report within the next several weeks.

Equine Welfare

Members had paused their work looking into issues around equine welfare for leisure horses in Scotland, but will soon reconvene as the new equid guidance has now been published.

Review of 2006 Act

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

• Legislation
• Science
• Public Attitudes

Fireworks

SAWC is planning to respond to a UK Government consultation on fireworks and pyrotechnics, in terms of their animal welfare impacts.

Work Plan Discussion

Members discussed the current work plan, and whether any content should be added or adjusted.

Next Meeting/s

The next plenary meeting will take place on Tuesday 24th November 2026.

Any other business

The first meetings are being organised for two new working groups, on:

• Data collection on animals – eg traceability, losses and other standardised welfare metrics
• Aquaculture – potentially on fish mortality

SAWC also considered reviewing its impact since its establishment in 2020, reflecting on and tracking what it has produced and whether it has led to any positive change.