The enforcement of the laws governing the welfare of farmed animals at the time of slaughter for the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025

Your request was about the following information:

Please provide the following information for the period 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025. 

Q1. How many slaughterhouses are under your authority? 

Q2. How many welfare complaints did you receive in relation to animal welfare at slaughterhouses? 

Q3. How many welfare complaints did you investigate in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses? 

Q4. What was the FSS’ budget for inspections and enforcement of animal welfare law at slaughterhouses? If you are not able to provide a figure for the separate budget for animal welfare, please provide a figure for the FSS total budget concerning inspections and audits in slaughterhouses. 

Q5. How many people do you employ to carry out farmed animal welfare inspections as part of their duties? If possible, please provide the response in FTE (Full time equivalent). 

Q6. What was the total number of inspections that were conducted in your jurisdiction to verify compliance with animal welfare law? 

Q7. What was the total number of inspections conducted in slaughterhouses in your jurisdiction that found non-compliance with animal welfare law? 

Q8. What enforcement action was taken by you out of the following, when an inspection revealed non-compliance with animal welfare law: 

a. Prosecution. 

b. Enforcement notice under The Welfare of Animals at the time of killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012. 

c. Referral to another body, and if so, which one. 

Q9. What was the total number of prosecution proceedings commenced or referred to the Crown Office and Procurator fiscal service, a local authority or any other enforcement body for prosecution of offences under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012? 

Q10. What was the total number of prosecution proceedings commenced or referred to the Public Prosecution Service, a local authority or any other enforcement body for prosecution of offences under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in response to a non-compliance identified at a slaughterhouse? 

Q11. What was the total number of compliance notices issued by you under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in response to a non-compliance identified at a slaughterhouse? 

Q12. How many individuals subject to any of the enforcement actions disclosed in answer to any of the above questions (including enforcement notices and prosecutions) had previously committed an animal welfare offence? 

Q13. How many welfare complaints were referred to a local authority or APHA for enforcement of on farm or transport welfare issues?

A.1 There were 24 approved slaughterhouses in Scotland under the authority of Food Standards Scotland (FSS) during the period requested. 

A.2 FSS did not receive any welfare complaints in relation to animal welfare at slaughterhouses during the period in question. 

A.3 FSS did not investigate any welfare complaints in relation to welfare at slaughterhouses during the period in question. 

A.4 FSS delivers animal welfare controls at slaughterhouses under a Service Level Agreement with the Scottish Government, as Policy holders for animal welfare. It is more appropriate for this question to be posed to them. However, what we can state, is that every slaughterhouse in Scotland has FSS presence every day of operation and animal welfare checks are conducted throughout these operational days. 

A.5 Our inspections in relation to animal welfare only relate to slaughterhouses and as of December 2025 we employ approximately 32 full time equivalent Official Veterinarians and 64 full time equivalent Meat Hygiene Inspectors. 

A.6 FSS staff is present in all operational slaughterhouses, every day, with animal welfare checks being conducted by FSS’s staff throughout the day, we cannot provide a specific number of inspections, we conduct several inspections a day, the frequency depends on risk and throughput of the plant. 

A.7 All non-compliances identified, attributed to the slaughterhouse environment, on farm practices or issues during transport, are published at: Animal Welfare Data | Food Standards Scotland. The 2025 data will be published in the coming weeks. 

A.8 The action taken in all cases of non-compliance will be made clear as part of the published data set. 

A.9 There were no prosecution proceedings commenced or referred to the Crown Office and Procurator fiscal service or the local authority for prosecution of offences under The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (Scotland) Regulations 2012, in 2025. 

A.10 There were no prosecution proceedings commenced or referred to the Crown Office and Procurator fiscal service or the local authority for prosecution of offences under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in 2025. 

A.11 FSS is not the competent authority for animal welfare during transport, therefore we do not have powers to issue enforcement notices under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Any suspected breach identified at slaughterhouses is reported to the Local Authorities. 

A.12 N/A 

A.13 As per answer A.7, the referrals are referenced as part of the actions taken and the 2025 data set will be published soon.