Question reference: S6W-25738
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 23 February 2024
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Current status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 4 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the condition in Annex B of its publication, Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021: guidance for dog breeders, which states that "No dog may be kept for breeding if it can reasonably be expected, on the basis of its genotype, conformation, behaviour or state of health, that breeding from it could have a detrimental effect on its health or welfare or the health or welfare of its offspring", has noticeably improved the welfare of brachycephalic dog breeds in Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not undertaken any targeted work to assess if the welfare of brachycephalic breeds has improved following the introduction of The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (the 2021 regulations), however this is something that we do intend to investigate further with local authorities and relevant stakeholders.
Meantime, the Scottish Government continues to engage regularly with local authorities on the enforcement of the 2021 regulations and work with key stakeholders to promote and encourage ethical and responsible breeding of dogs.