Scottish Animal Welfare Commission – Review of Scottish Government activity affecting the welfare of animals, as sentient beings

6. UK Legislation

Previous Programmes for Government have included Scottish Government commitments to working with other UK administrations on legislation to control exports of livestock and imports of dogs, modernise zoo licensing, and control import and sale of products that raise ethical concerns such as fur.

Legislation to prohibit exports of livestock for fattening and slaughter, control imports of dogs and cats, and modernise zoo licensing was to have been taken forward through the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, with relevant sections extending to Scotland after legislative consent was obtained in 2022. The Bill was withdrawn by the UK government in May 2023, with separate elements then expected to be taken forward separately later that year as single-issue Bills.

After obtaining legislative consent of the Scottish Parliament on 22 February 2024 to allow the Bill to extend to Scotland, the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024 passed and commenced on 22 July 2024. This prohibits the export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses from Great Britain to countries outside the British Islands for the purposes of slaughter or fattening for slaughter. Enforcement regulations are being prepared.

Three separate Private Members' Bills were introduced in the UK Parliament in 2024, covering matters previously included in the Kept Animals Bill, but only one of these covers Scotland.

The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill, introduced by Selaine Saxby MP, makes provision to restrict the commercial importation and non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets into the United Kingdom on grounds of animal welfare. The Bill included measures to allow the four parts of the UK to regulate to raise the minimum age for imported dogs and cats to six months and to ban the import of dogs and cats that are more than 42 days pregnant or with mutilations (for example, tail-docking, ear-cropping or declawing) that would be illegal in the UK. The Bill would also have amended EU rules, assimilated into UK law, to limit to five the number of cats and dogs imported per motor vehicle, or three per foot passenger. Agreement in principle to seek legislative consent to allow this to extend to Scotland was reached before the UK general election was announced in May 2024. The Bill passed its Second Reading on 15 March 2024, but fell due to dissolution on 30 May 2024. It remains to be seen if the new UK government will take forward a new Bill in this area.

Proposed changes to the Zoo Licensing Act to allow more stringent conservation requirements to be specified in licence conditions were dropped by the UK Government. Joint work continued to finalise updated GB guidance on zoo standards, but this was not published before the general election.

The Ivory Act 2018 (Meaning of "Ivory" and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024

On 21 May 2024, the UK government laid a Statutory Instrument extending the Ivory Act 2018 to four additional ivory-bearing mammals: hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal and sperm whale. The ban on dealing items made of or containing ivory from these species was expected to come into force in September 2024, but was delayed by the dissolution of Parliament and change in government.

The ban was supported by the Scottish Government, in order to support the conservation of ivory-bearing mammals and place the UK as a global leader in animal conservation. At the time of writing this report, a new implementation date was awaited.