- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 20 November 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07415 by Mairi Gougeon on 29 March 2022, regarding the potential impact in Scotland, what assessment it has made of Dogs Trust's recommendation that the number of pet animals able to travel to Great Britain be reduced from five to three per vehicle, in light of the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill being withdrawn.
Answer
The Scottish Government continues to support measures to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.
The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to reduce the number of dogs per vehicle which can be transported non-commercially into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.