Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Regulations 2010 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“agricultural land” means land used for agriculture (within the meaning of the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948(2)) which is so used for the purposes of a trade or business;

“bovine animal” means any animal of genera Bos, Bison or Bubalus;

“de-snooding” means the removal of the part of the male turkey’s wattle arising from the forehead and lying over the upper beak;

“disbudding” means the removal of the horn bud;

“dock” means the amputation of one or more coccygeal vertebrae of the tail of an animal;

“domestic fowl” means a domesticated member of the species Gallus gallus;

“dubbing” means the removal of all or part of the comb of a bird;

“equine animal” means any animal of the genus Equus including hybrids;

“infra-red procedure” means an automated procedure involving exposure of the tip of the beak of a chick to a focused high intensity infra-red beam designed to cause a limited area of tissue damage and subsequent loss of the beak tip;

“laying hen” means a domestic fowl which is kept or to be kept for the production of eggs not intended for hatching;

“meat chicken” means a domestic fowl which is kept or to be kept for the production of meat;

“non-farmed” when applied to an animal means a bovine animal, deer, goat, pig or sheep which is not bred or kept for the production of food, wool or skin or for other farming purposes, and includes—

“pinioning” means the disabling of the wing of a bird by the removal of the metacarpal bone and phalanges of one wing;

“poultry” means any bird reared or kept in captivity for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, or of other products, for restocking supplies of game or for the purpose of any breeding programme for the production of such categories of birds;

“surgical castration” means any method of castration that involves cutting or tearing tissue but not crushing tissue at the neck of the scrotum using a rubber ring or other device; and

“surgical docking” means any method of docking that involves cutting or tearing tissue but not crushing tissue using a rubber ring or other device or using a hot iron.

Exempted Procedures

3.  The Scottish Ministers hereby specify the procedures described in column 1 of each of Schedules 1 to 12 where the procedure is carried out in relation to the particular type of protected animal(3) described in any of those Schedules and is carried out—

(a)for a purpose which is specified, in relation to any such procedure, in column 2 of the corresponding entry in the relevant Schedule;

(b)in hygienic conditions;

(c)in such a way as to minimise the pain and suffering it causes to the animal;

(d)in accordance with good practice; and

(e)where applicable, in accordance with such conditions as are specified, in relation to any such procedure, in column 1 of the entry in the relevant Schedule,

as procedures in relation to which section 20 (mutilation) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 does not apply.

Revocations

4.  The following instruments are revoked:—

(a)the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Regulations 2007(4); and

(b)the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2009(5).

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 1Bovine animals

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 2Pigs

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 3Birds

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 4Sheep

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 5Goats

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 6Equine Animals

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 7Deer

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 8Cats

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 9Dogs

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 10Fish

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 11Reptiles

Regulation 3

SCHEDULE 12Any other kind of animal

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made in exercise of the powers in section 20(5)(b) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 (“the Act”), which enable the Scottish Ministers to specify procedures to which section 20 of the Act does not apply.

These Regulations revoke and replace (with amendments) the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 and the Prohibited Procedures on Protected Animals (Exemptions) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2009. The provisions in the revoked Regulations relating to the authorisation of hot branding of equine animals have not been re‑enacted and no savings have been made as no authorisations exist at the date of making these Regulations.

The Regulations also implement provisions in the following EU legislation:—

• Council Directive 1999/74/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens;

• Council Directive 2007/43/EC laying down minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production; and

• Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs.

Section 20(1) of the Act makes it an offence to carry out, or cause to be carried out, a prohibited procedure on a protected animal. Section 20(2) makes it an offence for a person responsible for an animal to permit or fail to take reasonable steps to prevent a prohibited procedure being carried out on a protected animal. Section 20(3) makes it an offence to take an animal, or cause an animal to be taken, from a place in Scotland for the purpose of having a prohibited procedure carried out on that animal at a place outwith Scotland.

“Protected animal” is defined in section 17 of the Act as an animal which is of a kind commonly domesticated in the British Islands, under the control of man on a permanent or temporary basis, or not living in a wild state. In terms of section 20(4) of the Act a reference to the carrying out of a prohibited procedure on an animal is to the carrying out of a procedure which involves interference with the sensitive tissues or bone structure of the animal.

Regulation 3 and Schedules 1 to 12 exempt certain procedures from the application of section 20 of the Act where they are carried out for specified purposes and in accordance with any specified condition and with good practice. Guidance on good practice is found in the animal welfare codes which may be viewed on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk.

Notwithstanding that these Regulations exempt certain procedures from the statutory prohibitions in section 20, those procedures remain subject to requirements imposed by other legislation and, in particular, these Regulations do not permit procedures to be carried out by anyone except in accordance with the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. Information on several of those requirements, and the related legislation, can be found in the animal welfare codes.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment has not been produced for this instrument as it has no impact on the costs of business.