The enforcement of the laws governing the welfare of farmed animals

To request information concerning enforcement of the laws governing the welfare of farmed animals. 

Terminology 

By 'farmed animals', we refer to any animal bred or kept for the production of food, wool or skin or other farming purposes

The premises referred to in this question are:

Farms keeping animals for commercial use

Livestock markets that sell and trade live animals

National and international border control posts  

Vehicles transporting farmed animals for commercial purposes

Where referencing Transport Vehicles, we are referring to welfare issues during transport and vehicle related issues which breach animal welfare law

By 'inspections', we refer to on-site inspections on behalf of your organisation.

By welfare complaints, we are referring to any complaints relating to animal cruelty, neglect or failure to meet the welfare needs of an animal, whether from members of the public, animal protection organisations, staff members, veterinary surgeons etc.

Please could you provide the following information in relation to farmed animal species only during the period 1 January 2025 - 31 December 2025:

1) Do you enforce farmed animal welfare legislation? 

a) If the answer is no, please explain why e.g. no farms, a different local authority does etc.
b) If a different local authority enforces this legislation in your area, please inform us which one?

If your answer to question 1 is 'no', please do not respond to the below questions.

2) Do you work with another local authority to conduct your farmed animal welfare enforcement and if so which one?
a) Please also clarify whether the below data is likely to be duplicated by them.

3) How many of each of the following premises in your jurisdiction were inspected for welfare purposes one or more times?

a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.

For the avoidance of doubt, if the same premise was inspected more than once, it should only be recorded once.

4) What was the total number of inspections that were conducted for welfare purposes in your jurisdiction at the following premises?

a) Farms;
4b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.

Please note that this question refers to the total number of inspections, not premises inspected. Therefore, the numbers can include situations where multiple inspections took place on the same premise.

5)How many of these inspections found non-compliance with animal welfare law at the following premises?

a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.

Statutory Notices

6) Please list whether an improvement notice under section 10 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 was issued on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance at each of the following:

a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.

7) Please list whether a compliance notice under The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006 was issued on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance at each of the following:

a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.

8) Please list whether a prosecution was commenced or referred to a central prosecution service or any other enforcement body on each of the occasions an inspection revealed non-compliance with animal welfare law at each of the following:

a) Farms;
b) Markets;
c) Borders; and
d) Transport vehicles.
e) If held, please specify which statute(s) and/or regulation(s) each of the above listed prosecutions were brought under.

9) How many animal welfare complaints did you receive in relation to the following:

a) On-farm;
b) At markets;
c) At a border post; and
d) During transport.

10) Of the above animal welfare complaints, how many led to an on-site inspection?

a) On-farm;
b) At markets;
c) At a border post; and
d) During transport.

11) How many charges did you bring or refer to a central prosecution service or any other enforcement body for offences named in the following:

Animal Welfare Act 2006?

a) Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007?
b) Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1990?
c) The Welfare of Animals (Transport) (England) Order 2006?
d) The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015?

12) How many individuals subject to any of the enforcement actions (both prosecutions and statutory notices) disclosed in answer to any of the above questions had previously been convicted of an animal welfare offence?

13) What is your body's annual budget for farmed animal welfare enforcement?

a) If you do not have a separate budget, please could you provide the budget for Trading Standards or, if separate, the department farmed animal welfare enforcement is located in. In your answer please specify what the budget provided covers.

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

15) Tail docking of Pigs

We are also particularly concerned with the enforcement of the prohibition on the routine tail docking of pigs. The docking of pigs' tails is prohibited by section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, except in certain circumstances provided for in the Mutilations (prohibited procedures) (England) Regulations 2007. However, evidence indicates that docking takes place on up to 85% of UK farms.

15a) Could you please disclose how many complaints you received regarding the docking of pigs' tails?

1) Yes

2) No

3a) 54

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a

d) Not recorded separately

4a) 76

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a d) Not recorded separately

5a) 54 of the 76 inspections found minor or major non-compliance at 33 premises

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a d) Not recorded separately

6a) Zero – officers provide written advice in the form of a letter or Trading Standards Report detailing improvements required b) Please see Please see exemption below*

c) N/a d) Not recorded separately

7a) Zero - Written advice in the form of a letter or Trading Standards Report is issued following each inspection, detailing the non-compliance identified and remedial steps to correct

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a

d) Not recorded separately

8) 8 investigations commenced in 2025.

1 of these was supporting another local authority with them taking primacy for investigating.

7 investigations have been concluded and resulted in a warning letter.

1 investigation resulted in charges being laid.

a) 1 prosecution commenced in 2025

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a

d) Zero

e) Animal Welfare Act, The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007

9a) 49

b) Please see exemption below*

c) N/a

d) 300

10a) All complaints are assessed in order to determine if welfare issues alone, if so these matters are referred to the Duty Vet at the Animal and Plant Health Authority (APHA).

They will lead on these but may require Trading Standards to accompany any visits. If other matters are identified alongside welfare complaints, such as deadstock or disease, Trading Standards will allocate as these are urgent for investigation.

b) Please see exemption below *

c) N/a

d) As Lincolnshire has several abattoirs, and this is where most of the WATO offences are reported from, the transporters concerned are often based out of county. Therefore, although the offence will be investigated, this would not lead to an inspection of the transporter. The matter would be referred to the Local Authority in which the transporter is based for them to follow-up as they deem appropriate with regards to physical inspections.

11) 14 (1 case with charges laid in 2025)

a) 1 (1 case with charges laid in 2025)

b) Zero

c) Zero

d) Zero

12) Zero

13) No dedicated budget specifically for animal welfare enforcement.

a) 2024/25 Trading Standards revenue budget - £1,474,248

14) 2026 - 2 FTE’s in the Animal Health and Feed Team

15a) Zero

*Livestock Markets The information requested under this FOI relates to livestock markets, of which there is only one in Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire Trading Standards is responsible for enforcing a range of animal welfare legislation applicable to livestock markets, including the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

The information you have requested is exempt from disclosure under section 31(1)(g) of the Freedom of Information Act. This section provides that information is exempt if disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposes specified in section 31(2).