Farm Animal Welfare Committee's opinion on the welfare of animals during transport: consultation

Part I – About this consultation

Topic of this consultation

This consultation is seeking views on the recommendations made by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee in their ‘Opinion on the Welfare of Animals during Transport’.

Scope of this consultation

This consultation covers the recommendations made by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee in their ‘Opinion on the Welfare of Animals during Transport’ and the potential introduction of these recommendations in Scotland.

The consultation considers how these recommendations might be implemented in Scotland and the potential impact of implementation on stakeholders.

Geographical extent

Animal welfare is generally a devolved matter and this consultation applies to the recommendations made by the Farm Animal Welfare Committee in their ‘Opinion on the Welfare of Animals during Transport’ insofar as they extend to Scotland only. The appropriate administration should be approached for further information in other parts of the UK.

Audience

Anyone may reply to this consultation. The Scottish Government would particularly like to hear from: those with practical experience of transporting animals, animal welfare organisations, local authorities, veterinary professionals and academics.

Body responsible for this consultation

The Scottish Government’s Animal Welfare Team is responsible for this consultation.

Duration

This consultation starts on ----------4 December 2020

This consultation closes on ----------26 February 2021

This constitutes a full consultation period of 12 weeks.

How to make an enquiry

If you have any queries about this consultation please contact the Scottish

Government Animal Welfare Team by e-mail at FAWCtransportconsultation@gov.scot

Responding to this consultation paper

We are inviting responses to this consultation by 26 February 2021.

Please respond to this consultation using the Scottish Government’s consultation hub, Citizen Space (http://consult.gov.scot). You can access and respond to this consultation online here: https://consult.gov.scot/agriculture-and-rural-economy/farm-animal-welfare-committee-opinion-on-the-welfa/

You can save and return to your response while the consultation is still open. Please ensure that consultation responses are submitted before the closing date of 26 February 2021.

If you are unable to respond using our consultation hub, please complete the Respondent Information Form and return with your comments to:

FAWC - Welfare of Animals during Transport Consultation
Scottish Government Animal Welfare Team
P Spur
Saughton House
Broomhouse Drive
EH11 3XD

Handling your response

If you respond using the consultation hub, you will be directed to the About You page before submitting your response. Please indicate how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are happy for your response to published. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

If you are unable to respond via Citizen Space, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form included in this document.

To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy: /privacy/

Next steps in the process

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public at http://consult.scotland.gov.uk. If you use Citizen Space to respond, you will receive a copy of your response via email.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us decide on next steps. Responses will be published where we have been given permission to do so. A consultation summary report will also be made publicly available.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the contact address above or by e-mail to: FAWCtransportconsultation@gov.scot

Scottish Government consultation process

Consultation is an essential part of the policymaking process. It gives us the opportunity to consider your opinion and expertise on a proposed area of work.

You can find all our consultations online at: http://consult.gov.scot. Each consultation sets out the issues under consideration, and provides a means for you to submit your views, either online, by email or by post.

Responses will be analysed and used to inform the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. We publish a report of this analysis for every consultation undertaken. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments.