Animal Welfare Plan for Wales: year 4 progress report

Our Animal Welfare Plan for Wales, published in November 2021, set out how we would deliver our Programme for Government commitments alongside our other priorities for animal welfare. Our ambition is for all animals in Wales to experience a good quality of life. This reflects the strategic objective of the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework, which underpins our five‑year Animal Welfare Plan.

This report sets out progress we have made during 2025, the fourth year of the plan, and so far in 2026. Previous progress reports.

We continue to deliver for animal welfare:

• We published our response to the consultation on licensing animal welfare establishments, activities and exhibits, along with our next steps. We are prioritising proposals to regulate animal welfare establishments, including rescues, sanctuaries, rehabilitation centres and rehoming organisations.
• We are moving to ban greyhound racing as soon as practicably possible. The Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill was introduced to the Senedd in September 2025 and passed Stage 4 in March. It is expected to receive Royal Assent in the coming months.
• Animal Licensing Wales is delivering improved animal health and welfare outcomes, supporting Local Authorities to handle complex animal welfare cases. We have awarded Animal Licensing Wales a further £1 million in funding for 2026/27.
• We are working collaboratively with other administrations to further strengthen our farmed animal welfare standards, including through joint UK‑wide consultations on lamb welfare and phasing out cages for laying hens.
• We published new standards of modern zoo practice confirming our commitment to responsible, ethical wildlife management.
• The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 gives us powers to crack down on low‑welfare pet imports, tackle puppy and kitten smuggling, and prevent the importation of vulnerable or mutilated animals.
• The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 modernises out of date legislation to better protect livestock from dog attacks, bringing the law in line with today’s farming practices, animal welfare standards, and policing needs.

PfG Commitment 1: Develop a national model for regulation of animal welfare, introducing registration for animal welfare establishments, commercial breeders for pets or for shooting, and animal exhibits

• In June 2025, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, issued a written statement setting out our response to the consultation on licensing animal welfare establishments, activities and exhibits, along with the next steps. This represented an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to strengthening animal welfare standards.
• We are moving to ban greyhound racing in Wales. The Prohibition of Greyhound Racing (Wales) Bill was introduced to the Senedd in September 2025 and the Bill was passed by the Senedd in March 2026. If enacted, the Bill would make it an offence to operate a stadium or similar venue for greyhound racing, or to be involved in organising greyhound racing.
• We have established an Implementation Group of key stakeholders to help inform our approach to banning greyhound racing. The Implementation Group is providing practical guidance so that a ban can be introduced in a way that minimises the impact on greyhounds and the local community.
• We recognise the potential impact on rehoming services. Welfare organisations have committed to help support any increase in retired greyhounds. The Implementation Group will support this coordinated approach, with partners working collectively to manage pressures on rescue and rehoming centres and to ensure greyhound welfare remains central throughout the transition.
• Feedback from our consultation highlighted the need to prioritise proposals for the regulation of animal welfare establishments, including rescues, sanctuaries, rehabilitation centres and rehoming organisations. We acknowledge the importance of clear, consistent and enforceable standards that safeguard animal health and welfare, while also supporting the valuable work these establishments undertake to prevent harm and mistreatment.
• This represents a significant programme of policy development, covering a wide variety of species and types of establishments, and it’s important that we take the time to get it right. Our ambitions in this area are significant and will not be realised overnight.
• We are implementing a phased approach to the establishment of a national framework for regulating animal welfare. This work will be developed collaboratively with stakeholders, operational bodies, industry partners and third‑sector organisations. Our priority is to focus on areas where regulation can make the greatest positive impact.
• Pet grooming will be considered in the next stage of the national regulatory model. This is a skilled and specialised sector that is currently unregulated, with more than 500 pet grooming businesses estimated to be operating in Wales.

PfG Commitment 2: Improve the qualifications for animal welfare inspectors to raise their professional status

• Animal Licensing Wales is now well‑established and continues to strengthen enforcement, guidance, and operational support, directly contributing to improved animal health and welfare outcomes across Wales. This specialist capability is enhancing Local Authority capacity to handle complex animal welfare cases.
• Animal Licensing Wales has improved the professional status of Local Authority animal welfare inspectors through the delivery of training on the Animal Welfare (Breeding of Dogs) (Wales) Regulations 2014 (“the dog breeding regulations”) and the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Wales) Regulations 2021 (“the LAIA regulations”). 
• The new VetSkill VTEC Level 3 Award in the Licensing of Selling Animals as Pets represents a significant milestone for professional standards in animal licensing across Wales. This qualification is a recognised, standalone Ofqual‑regulated award that meets the legislative requirements of the LAIA regulations. It satisfies the statutory requirement for licensing officers to be “suitably trained” when inspecting premises selling animals as pets, equipping them with the relevant knowledge, practical skills, and legislative understanding.
• A dedicated expert team is providing consistent advice and operational support to Local Authorities, supported by new digital infrastructure including a central licensing portal for dog breeders. Standardised dog breeding inspection conditions are being developed, and specialist veterinary training has been rolled out across Wales.
• Animal Licensing Wales has contributed significantly to national policy and regulatory development, including steering group work on responsible dog breeding and ownership, and will play a critical role when we come to review our dog breeding regulations. 
• The team has supported major welfare investigations and has provided operational assistance at port sting operations. They have also represented Wales on UK‑wide issues, including expert contributions to the XL Bully ban. 
• Animal Licensing Wales’ work has secured national recognition, with an RSPCA PawPrints special recognition award in 2024 and a gold award in 2025, positioning Wales as a UK leader in animal welfare enforcement. 
• We have awarded Animal Licensing Wales a further £1 million in funding for 2026/27 to further support their excellent work alongside our delivery partners.

PfG Commitment 3: Require CCTV in all slaughterhouses

• CCTV is now mandatory in all slaughterhouses in Wales. Since June 2024, slaughterhouse operators have been required to install CCTV cameras in areas where live animals are unloaded, kept, handled, stunned and killed, and they must retain recorded images for a minimum of 90 days. We published guidance to help slaughterhouse operators comply with these requirements. 
• The Food Standards Agency makes use of CCTV in its enforcement role at slaughterhouses. CCTV improves the efficiency of monitoring and enforcement activity. This supports improved consumer confidence that welfare standards are being delivered.  

PfG Commitment 4: Restrict the use of cages for farmed animals

• Together with the UK Government, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, we are committed to improving the welfare of laying hens by moving towards cage-free systems. 
• A joint, UK-wide, consultation on a proposal to ban keeping laying hens, pullets and breeder layers in cages was launched in January 2026. The consultation seeks views on proposals to phase out the use of cages in the UK’s laying hen sector, ban the use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens, pullets, and breeder layers, and to phase out the remaining conventional ‘battery’ cages used in laying hen units with fewer than 350 birds. Our proposals aim to improve animal welfare standards in a way which is sustainable and economically viable for the UK egg industry.
• We have also commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee for advice on existing and alternative non-cage systems for laying hens. This advice, along with the responses to the consultation will help determine our next steps. 
• We continue to explore options to transition away from the use of farrowing crates for pigs. This includes consideration of alternative systems, such as flexible farrowing, in which sows are confined only during the critical period around farrowing, and free farrowing systems that do not involve confinement during farrowing or lactation.

Pets

Stakeholder collaboration continues to underpin our work. In working together, we are best able to promote our shared priorities of improved public information, education and owner accountability. 

We work closely with third sector organisations, police forces and Local Authorities, to promote the importance and benefits of responsible dog breeding and ownership, and we remain committed to updating our dog breeding regulations.

In November 2025, the Innate Health Assessment (IHA) tool was launched by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare and endorsed on our webpages and amongst our stakeholders. The IHA offers members of the public, breeders and enforcement authorities a free, easy-to-use checklist which can help to assess a dog’s physical health and suitability for breeding. It focuses on ten key health traits, such as clear breathing, straight legs, and a wagging tail, and does not require special equipment or help from a vet.

Dog attacks are a continued area of concern, with another tragic child fatality in 2025 and regular instances of injury being reported throughout Wales. We are considering what more can be done here in Wales to prevent the dangers posed by irresponsible dog ownership and breeding. 

Microchipping best practice, promotion and wider reform continue to be areas of consideration, including cross-Government efforts to improve how microchip databases operate. While extending the current dog‑microchipping requirement to cats is not planned, recent findings from Cats Protection’s CATS Report, Cats and Their Stats Wales 2025, show that voluntary microchipping rates in Wales remain strong at 74%, with 96% of these records kept up to date. Evidence from England, where microchipping became mandatory for cats in 2024, indicates that the legal change has not increased uptake. Taken together, the data suggests that Wales is performing well without introducing a legal requirement for cat microchipping and there is good recognition of its role in responsible ownership.

Zoos and aquariums

New Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for Great Britain were published in May 2025. This follows years of work by the Zoos Expert Committee, in collaboration with Defra, the Welsh Government and the Scottish Government. The standards will come into effect from May 2027 and will modernise the way animals are cared for in zoos and aquariums, confirming our shared commitment to animal health and welfare and responsible, ethical wildlife management. The two-year transition period will allow zoos and aquariums to adapt to the changes, with further phased timelines for some species-specific changes.

Farmed animals

Animals should only be transported when necessary and journey durations should be minimised. This is why we supported the ban on live export of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and equines for slaughter and fattening. The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Enforcement Regulations 2024 came into force in January 2025, providing the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Local Authorities with the powers to enforce the ban. We continue to work with the UK and Scottish Governments, and stakeholders to explore further measures to prevent equines being exported for slaughter.

A joint UK‑wide consultation on lamb welfare, focusing on proposed changes to castration and tail docking practices, was launched in January 2026. We are consulting on proposals to amend existing legislation to ensure a consistent approach across the UK, reduce unnecessary mutilations and improve animal welfare. We want to minimise the welfare impacts associated with these practices by increasing access to less harmful methods, requiring the use of pain relief for certain procedures, and setting clear restrictions on who may carry out each method, as well as how and when they can be used. Responses to the consultation will inform our future policy decisions in this area.

Collaboration with the UK Government

Animal welfare is devolved, which means we can make our own laws and policies for Wales. However, we do work closely with the UK Government where collaboration adds value, ensuring consistency, reducing unnecessary complexity and strengthening enforcement while providing clear legal frameworks, to ensure better outcomes for animals. 

In September 2025, the Senedd granted legislative consent to two significant pieces of legislation.

The Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Act 2025 provides powers to prohibit the import into Great Britain of puppies and kittens under six months, as well as mutilated and heavily pregnant dogs and cats. It also tackles the deliberate misuse of non‑commercial travel rules by limiting the number of dogs, cats and ferrets that can be moved under those arrangements. We will now work with the UK Government to develop secondary legislation to enforce the prohibitions within the Act. This will have a positive impact on the welfare of pets imported into Great Britain.

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Act 2025 comes into force on 18 March 2026. It addresses the serious issue of dog attacks on livestock by modernising a law that was over 70 years old and which was no longer fit for purpose. We welcomed this long-awaited and much-needed reform. Dog attacks on livestock can be devastating, with potential death, injury, lost pregnancies, and emotional stress and financial loss for farmers. Key changes include strengthened police powers, including powers of entry, the seizure and detention of dogs and collection of evidence. The maximum penalty for offenders has been increased to an unlimited fine. This is a significant milestone for farming and rural communities and will better support the police to investigate incidents and provide additional deterrents to prevent future incidents. 

Evidence and research in policy development

Advances in evidence and technology, alongside evolving ethical frameworks and public attitudes, influence the development of animal welfare policy. Our priority is to focus on areas where we can make the greatest positive impact. We commission research where there are knowledge gaps, and expert advice from the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group and advisory committees such as the Animal Welfare Committee and Zoos Expert Committee to make evidence‑based policy.