British Veterinary Association calls on political parties to prioritise animal welfare and help strengthen the veterinary workforce in Wales

The manifesto calls on Senedd candidates in Wales to ensure SFS funding incentivises and supports good animal health and welfare outcomes, including the need for animals to have a good life. BVA is calling for strong veterinary involvement to develop and implement the scheme to bring maximum benefit to Welsh livestock. The organisation is also urging the new Welsh Government to address veterinary workforce issues in rural areas by making vets central to delivery of their animal health and welfare policies, incentivising job creation and opportunities for both private and government vets.

Launching the manifesto, BVA Welsh Branch President Phoebe McCarter said: "We know that there is already strong political and public backing for many of the welfare priorities we’ve set out — including animal licensing activities and more support for veterinary teams in rural areas. We’re eager to work with all parties on these important issues and are urging candidates to speak with vets in their constituencies to gain a better understanding of veterinary workforce and animal welfare issues.

“Vets play a vital role in keeping pets healthy, protecting both animals and the public from disease, and ensuring high standards across the food supply chain. Our manifesto highlights the key animal welfare and workforce issues that matter most to our members across the Welsh veterinary community and calls for cross-party commitments to take meaningful action”

BVA is urging the veterinary community in Wales to read the manifesto, share it with their networks, and engage their local member of the Senedd (MS) on the SFS, veterinary workforce issues and four other key calls to action:

• Animal licensing activities - Support increased oversight of licensing of animal activities. The current Welsh Government’s efforts to introduce a clear and enforceable outcome focussed licensing regime to safeguard animal welfare, should be developed even further.
• Bovine TB - MSs are urged to support a collaborative approach to tackling bovine TB through enhanced data sharing between government vets and private vets, with farmers rewarded for good biosecurity practices, including safe sourcing, through earned recognition.
• Disease control – Welsh Government should commit to evidence-informed disease control, ensuring the compulsory Bovine Viral Diarrhea eradication scheme is fully implemented by July 2026 without further delay and to fund and expand schemes using a collaborative approach to eradicate sheep scab in Wales.
• Responsible use of veterinary medicines - Welsh Government should continue to support the successful Arwain Vet Cymru programme, to reduce antibiotic use and tackle resistance. This work should be expanded to reduce parasiticide use in companion and farm animals, where we are seeing increased resistance and significant impacts on biodiversity and soil health.

BVA is the leading body representing vets in the UK, with around 19,000 members, including nearly 1,000 in Wales.

For more detail read BVA’s Manifesto for Wales’ animals, vets, and public health 2026-2031.