Animal health, welfare and movement

Animal welfare

Welfare visits are also made where there is concern over the health and well being of animals.

Our Animal Health and Welfare officer attends welfare problems with veterinary officials to advise farmers of good practice in livestock husbandry. If there are particularly serious problems then it is the duty of the officer to make a report to the Procurator Fiscal.

We work closely with Animal Health Veterinary Officers,  Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) and other agencies to help prevent the spread of infection during outbreaks of disease such as foot and mouth and rabies.

If you own an animal, you must ensure that its welfare needs are met.

Farms and collections centres

Our officer visits farms and collection centres to ensure legislation is being complied with and records are kept up-to-date.

Markets

Visits to markets are also made to ensure animals are correctly identified, fit to travel and the correct transport documentation accompanies them during transport.

We check that market premises and vehicles are cleansed and disinfected after use. 

Road checks

We also undertake road checks with other agencies, such as the police and veterinary officials ensure livestock transporters adhere to transport legislation.

Anyone involved in the feeding of livestock is legally required to be registered to comply with The Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) (Scotland) Regulations 2005.

This includes equines and fish farms and anyone involved in the production, storage or distribution of animal feed including pet food.

If you think that you might need to register, please contact Food Standards Scotland  for more information.

If you keep pigs you must inform the Scottish Government each time you move pigs off your holding. Moves must be notified either before or on the day you move pigs.

How to register the movement of pigs

You can inform the Scottish Government of the movement by registering with the ScotEID national movement database.

Once registered, you can register as a pig keeper by adding the details of your pig holding to your current registration details. The ScotEID movement database has an on-line holding register which you can elect to use as your record.

Every movement on or off your holding must be recorded in your holding register within 48 hours of the move taking place.

You must keep your records for a minimum of three years, even if you stop keeping pigs, and once a year you must record the number of pigs on your holding.

The ScotEID help office can provide further help by emailing help@scoteid.com, or telephone 01466 794323.