What consideration it has given to calls from Dogs Trust to ban the (a) non-commercial transport of pregnant dogs in the last 30% of their …

The Scottish Government continues to support measures to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, having obtained legislative consent from the Scottish Parliament for this to be taken forward under the UK Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill before this was withdrawn by the UK Government in May 2023, and having agreed in principle to seek legislative consent for the Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill before this fell due to the dissolution of the UK Parliament in May 2024.The Scottish Government maintains that to ensure consistency of approach and the most effective outcomes, these measures would best be delivered by a UK Parliament bill. To this end, Scottish Government officials continue to engage with DEFRA on the possibility of legislation in the UK parliament to restrict the transport of pregnant dogs into the UK, along with other animal welfare measures relating to the transport of pets.