Call for evidence: phasing out the use of cages in the gamebird and quail sectors

Closed 12 Jul 2024

Opened 22 Apr 2024

Overview

The Scottish Government is committed to improving animal welfare and announced a Programme for Government Commitment for 2023/2024 to consult on the phasing out of cages for gamebirds.

Before consulting more widely on specific proposals, the Scottish Government seeks to expand its understanding of the gamebird industry and has taken the opportunity to include quail egg and meat production in Scotland, especially the extent to which cages are used for housing egg-laying and meat birds.  

The species covered by this call for evidence are pheasants, partridges and quail, either home-bred or imported, and reared under farm conditions, whether or not for subsequent release.

We would like to hear the views of stakeholders on how these systems can be improved to enhance the welfare of the birds kept in them.

We invite anyone involved in the sector to contribute to this Call for Evidence in order to help us frame a future consultation in such a way that it asks the right questions and elicits responses to guide future actions that continue to support this important sector while enhancing animal welfare.

Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.

Useful information about responding to this consultation

As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.

Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.

On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.

After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.

A analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us. You can also join our consulation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).

 

Interests

  • Economy
  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Farming and Rural
  • Main hub