The public are being asked for ideas to strengthen animal protections by Holyrood’s environment, climate change and land reform committee.

The committee has launched a call for views on plans contained in the animals and wildlife (penalties, protections and powers) (Scotland) bill.

The bill increases the maximum available penalties for the most serious animal welfare offences including maltreating animals, attacks on service animals, destroying nests and damaging wild birds, poaching, possessing or selling unlawfully taken hares and rabbits and introducing invasive non-native species.

Incumbent

Committee convener Gillian Martin MSP said: “Surely it is incumbent upon us to do all we can to protect our animals and wildlife.

"We believe that so much more can be done and that is why it is so important that we ask as many people as possible how we can strengthen the existing protections and collectively create a framework that will positively impact animals and wildlife in Scotland for years to come.”

The call for views is open until 12 November and more information can be found online here.

Positive animal welfare

Meanwhile, researchers at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) have been looking into positive animal welfare.

In the first study of its kind, livestock farmers were asked directly what they thought about the concept of positive animal welfare.

The study looked at farmers going beyond minimising the negative things in an animal’s life, such as stress and health issues, and enhancing animal welfare through providing opportunities for them to take part in rewarding activities like playing and forming social bonds.

The study, by Belinda Vigors and Alistair Lawrence from SRUC, found similarities between the management and husbandry practices used by livestock farmers and what animal welfare science suggests may improve an animal’s wellbeing.

Make choices

These include giving animals opportunities to make choices – such as whether to be inside or outdoors, raising livestock in the same groups to support the development of social bonds, recognising the importance of play as an indicator of animal wellbeing, and making breeding decisions focused on long-term health and welfare improvement.

However, the researchers – who interviewed livestock farmers from the dairy, beef, sheep, pig and poultry sectors across Scotland – also found farmers felt positive welfare opportunities were only relevant once an animal’s needs were taken care of.

Farmers strongly assert that their primary role and purpose as animal caretakers should be to make sure their animals are healthy

Vigors said: “Farmers strongly assert that their primary role and purpose as animal caretakers should be to make sure their animals are healthy, experience as little stress as possible and have their resource needs met.

"For the most part, they feel that once this is achieved they can leave the animal to engage in positive welfare opportunities of their own accord.

“In short, they feel that positive welfare can arise indirectly out of minimising the potential burdens or stresses in an animal’s life.

“While it is really positive to find similarities between the science and farmers’ perspective, the opportunities for positive welfare may depend on the specifics of the farm and its system, which means that more direct, rather than indirect, inputs may be needed to create positive welfare opportunities under some conditions.”

Significant challenges

The researchers concluded that while this presents significant challenges for the development of positive welfare indicators, due to the need for these to be flexible enough to adapt to the individual characteristics of different farmers and farms, their findings will help the industry see how and where its current practices relate to the concept of positive welfare.

“We hope it may help the farming sector recognise the positive things they are already doing and build on this to promote a more positive discussion with regards to animal welfare,” said Vigors.

The research was funded by the Scottish Government’s rural and environment science and analytical services (RESAS) division as part of the productive and sustainable land management and rural economies theme.