Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government takes the welfare of animals at slaughter very seriously, including that of male chicks. The current methods of killing chicks, such as Maceration/Instantaneous Mechanical Destruction, are considered to be acceptable by the Humane Slaughter Association and we will continue to work with industry to ensure that the current regulations still meet their objectives.

At this stage the Scottish Government has no plans to phase out or prohibit the maceration of live male chicks. The current methods of killing chicks, such as Maceration/Instantaneous Mechanical Destruction, are considered to be acceptable by the Humane Slaughter Association and we will continue to work with industry to ensure that the current regulations still meet their objectives.

To date, no assessment has been undertaken. In its statutory review of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) Act 2020 the Scottish Government committed to undertaking, in collaboration with Defra and other devolved administrations, a gap analysis to identify the specific welfare challenges faced by decapods (including live transportation), what evidence there is to inform potential solutions to these challenges and where further research may be needed.

No assessment has been made of public attitudes towards the maceration of live male chicks.

The Scottish Government has no plans at this time to amend the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to extend statutory animal welfare protections to decapod crustaceans.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) is currently carrying out a review of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, with the report scheduled for completion by the end of 2026. The Scottish Government will give full consideration to SAWC's report in due course.

At present, the Scottish Government has no plans to ask the Animal and Plant Health Agency or the UK Government to routinely publish fish welfare inspection reports.

However, the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate Fish Health Inspectorate publishes reports of its inspections and visits, including information on fish health cases, sea lice levels and fish farm mortalities. For convenience, I have included the link below: Fish Health Inspectorate: inspection and farm health data - gov.scot.

A press release regarding the upcoming ban on rodent glue board traps in Scotland was issued on 24 June 2026 to the Press Association and included our main national media, local media and environment lists. Stakeholder organisations were notified as referenced in the answer to question S7W-01330 on 13 July 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Information on the ban has been published on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/news/glue-trap-ban-comes-into-force/.

Promotional materials, including flyers highlighting the ban were displayed and distributed from the Scottish Government’s Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland Stand at the Royal Highland Show and GWCT Scottish Game Fair.

Furthermore, Scottish Government officials met with the British Pest Control Association (BPCA) in the months prior to the ban, which enabled the BPCA to produce communication material for their members in advance of the ban.

The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 includes the option to introduce an authorisation scheme through regulations as set out in Section 5 of the Act, to allow the use, supply or possession of glue traps. However, we have received no evidence to date that introducing an authorisation scheme is necessary.

The Scottish Government notified key stakeholder organisations of the upcoming commencement of the ban on using, supplying or possessing rodent glue traps on 2 March 2026.

Follow-up correspondence was issued to Amazon, Ebay and the Post Office to confirm receipt of the notification. Further notification was sent to Scottish Wholesale on 20 May 2026 asking them to issue a reminder to Scotland’s wholesalers to ensure the removal of their stocks of rodent glue board traps, prior to the ban coming into force in Scotland on 1 July 2026.

NHS Grampian has advised that no detainees were transferred between Inverness and Kittybrewster custody suites in the last 12 months specifically to access methadone or other opioid substitution therapy. While such transfers may be considered where clinically necessary, this has not been required during this period.

NHS Grampian has further advised that information on transfers to accident and emergency departments is not routinely collated centrally and could only be obtained through a manual review of individual clinical records.

Decisions to transfer detainees to secondary care are made on the basis of clinical need where this cannot be safely managed within the custody setting.