Resources
WAWC Papers
This section contains research reports, advice notes, consultation responses and other material produced by the WAWC as part of its work to improve the welfare of wild animals in the UK.
Position statements, policy documents, briefings
Policy Briefing: Wild animal welfare after the UK General Election 2024 (June 2024)
Open letter - proposed wolf cull in Switzerland (November 2023)
Wild Animal Welfare Committee overview: general briefing paper (July 2023)
Scottish Parliament debate on international consensus principles for ethical wildlife management (May 2022)
Position Paper No.1 - Lethal traps for terrestrial mammals (November 2020)
Position Paper No.2 - Live trapping of terrestrial mammals and birds (September 2022)
Position Paper No.3 - Ethical principles in wildlife management (July 2023)
Topic statements: Short papers intended to elicit comment and debate
Topic Paper No. 1 - Animal reintroductions (February 2020)
Topic Paper No. 2 - Value-laden language (September 2020)
Consultation responses
Scottish Government consultation on deer management proposals (March 2024)
HSE consultation on use of lead ammunition (November 2023)
Scottish Government consultation on use of snares and Scottish SPCA powers (September 2023)
Scottish Government consultation on use of dogs in fox control (December 2021)
Scottish Parliament RAINE Committee (November 2021)
RSPB consultation on gamebird shooting policy (April 2020)
Scottish Natural Heritage consultation on revised General Licences for Scotland (October 2019)
Bovine TB - Review of Ten Area Limit (April 2018)
Bovine TB - Low Risk Area consultation (April 2018)
DEFRA - AIHTS Implementation proposals (March 2018)
Review of Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 (January 2018)
Comments on Home Office Advice Note on Working with Wild Animals (ASPA) (2015)
WAWC publications
Report from expert marine mammal welfare workshop, December 2019 (February 2020)
WAWC review of welfare issues: shooting and trapping of wild birds (October 2019)
WAWC conference 2021
Register here
Conference report and transcripts. Speakers’ presentations can be found at the links below. Please note (1) some of these documents are drafts awaiting approval from the speaker; (2) all images and slides are copyright and must not be reproduced without permission of the owner.
Document 1 - Background and introduction by WAWC Chair
Document 2 - Ngaio Beausoleil
Document 3 - Mark Jones - text
Document 4 - Mark Jones - slides
Document 5 - Sarah Dolman
Document 6 - Mike Radford
Document 7 - Heather Bacon
Document 8 - Alick Simmons
Document 9 - Becca Franks
Powerpoint - Becca Franks
Document 10 - Panel discussion 1
Document 11 - Cathy Dwyer
Document 12 - Sandra Baker
Powerpoint - Sandra Baker
Document 13 - Steven McCulloch
Powerpoint - Steven McCulloch
Document 14 - Jessica Findlay
Document 15 - Chris Draper
Document 16 - Justine Shotton
Document 17 - Justine Shotton - slides
Document 18 - Alastair McGugan
Document 19 - Panel discussion 2
External publications
This section contains publications and information from external sources such as government and other agencies relevant to wild animal welfare in the UK.
In 2017 an international panel of twenty experts in wildlife management, conservation and welfare created the first international guidelines for ethical decision making in wildlife control (Dubois et al 2017). They agreed seven principles for managing human-wildlife conflict.
