Animal health and welfare is essential for the environment and countryside in Wales and Welsh Government are responsible for the control and, where possible, the eradication of animal disease in Wales to improve the health and welfare of our animals. The Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework was established in 2014 to raise standards for improving health and welfare standards in kept animals. The Framework also considers the contribution to protecting public health, the economy and the environment.

Miller Research was commissioned to conduct two stakeholder workshops with the sector and was attended by over 80 stakeholders. The workshops aimed to understand what the 2017/2018 priorities should be for the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework. An insightful discussion was facilitated by Miller Research about what was going well, where there are opportunities to improve current practice and what are the current challenges. This was followed by detailed discussions about the “Wales We Want” in the future within the context of the decision to leave the European Union. Finally, the workshop also included facilitated group sessions on ways to encourage partnership working in the future.

The project resulted in a short summary paper to inform the 2017/2018 priorities, the “Wales We Want” and ways to improve partnership working which will feed into the future developments of Welsh Government’s strategy in this area and into the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework.