oversight and risk-based inspection of laboratory-animal transport
Case reference FOI2026/02485
Received 15 October 2026
Published 4 November 2026
Request
I am therefore making a separate Freedom of Information request concerning the Council’s system for deciding how animal transport is monitored and enforced.
For the period 1 January 2024 to the present, please provide:
1. Policies, procedures, guidance, service plans or operating instructions used by Herefordshire Council Animal Health & Welfare Officers to decide which animal transporters, premises, journeys or sectors are selected for welfare-in-transport inspection.
2. Any risk-assessment criteria, scoring systems, inspection matrices or prioritisation frameworks used to determine the frequency or targeting of welfare-in-transport checks.
3. Records showing whether research establishments, laboratory-animal breeders/suppliers, contract research organisations, or transporters carrying animals for scientific use are specifically included in, excluded from, or otherwise considered within the Council’s welfare-in-transport inspection programme.
4. Any record showing whether Sequani Limited, Bromyard Road, Ledbury,HR8 1LH has appeared on:
- an animal-health or welfare premises list;
- an inspection programme;
- a risk register;
- an intelligence log;
- a targeted-enforcement list;
- or any other schedule used to identify premises or transport activity for possible inspection.
5. If Sequani has been considered for inspection but no inspection was carried out, please provide any recorded reason for that decision. I am not asking the Council to create an explanation if none is recorded.
6. The total number of welfare-in-transport inspections/checks carried out by the Council in each calendar year from 2024 to the most recent available date, broken down where recorded by type of activity or location, for example:
- markets;
- agricultural shows;
- farms;
- roadside operations;
- pet/commercial dog transport;
- laboratory/research-animal transport;
- other categories used by the Council.
7. The number of those checks that involved dogs, non-human primates, or other non-farmed species, where this is recorded.
8. Any guidance, training material or instructions provided to Council officers concerning the transport of animals used for scientific or laboratory purposes, including dogs or non-human primates.
9. Any correspondence, guidance or instructions received from APHA, Defra or the Home Office concerning the division of responsibility for enforcing welfare-in-transport legislation in relation to animals transported to or from establishments regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
10. Any records identifying whether the Council considers welfare-in-transport checks at research establishments such as Sequani to be:
- routine;
- intelligence-led;
- complaint-led;
- roadside-only; - outside the Council’s normal inspection programme; - or subject to another approach.
11. Any performance targets, inspection targets or service objectives relating specifically to animal transport enforcement for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
12. If no specific policy, risk assessment, inspection programme or guidance exists concerning laboratory-animal transport, please confirm that explicitly. This request does not seek details of future planned inspections, future transport movements, routes, timings, vehicle registrations or other operational information whose disclosure could prejudice enforcement or site security. If any information is withheld, please identify the exemption relied upon and disclose the remainder with appropriate redactions. Please provide the information electronically by email.
Response
I am therefore making a separate Freedom of Information request concerning the Council’s system for deciding how animal transport is monitored and enforced.
For the period 1 January 2024 to the present, please provide:
1. Policies, procedures, guidance, service plans or operating instructions used by Herefordshire Council Animal Health & Welfare Officers to decide which animal transporters, premises, journeys or sectors are selected for welfare-in-transport inspection.
Answer: The Council's Animal Health & Welfare Team does not operate a specific policy governing the selection of animal transporters, premises, journeys, or sectors for welfare-in-transport inspections.
2. Any risk-assessment criteria, scoring systems, inspection matrices or prioritisation frameworks used to determine the frequency or targeting of welfare-in-transport checks.
Answer: The Council holds no records identifying any risk-assessment criteria, scoring systems, inspection matrices or prioritisation frameworks used to determine the frequency or targeting of welfare-in-transport inspections.
3. Records showing whether research establishments, laboratory-animal breeders/suppliers, contract research organisations, or transporters carrying animals for scientific use are specifically included in, excluded from, or otherwise considered within the Council’s welfare-in-transport inspection programme.
Answer: The Council holds no records identifying animal transporters, businesses or premises as either included within or excluded from welfare-in-transport inspection regimes. The Council does not maintain any policy or practice of excluding specific transporters, businesses or premises from consideration for inspection.
4. Any record showing whether Sequani Limited, Bromyard Road, Ledbury,HR8 1LH has appeared on:
- an animal-health or welfare premises list;
Answer: The premises is on the council database, which Animal Health & Welfare have access to.
- an inspection programme;
Answer: There is no inspection plan that includes Sequani limited.
- a risk register;
Answer: The premises has been assessed using the NTSB risk assessment system built into the Council database. NTSB scoring is simply a database-generated feed-business risk score. The Council holds no separate welfare risk register relating to the premises.
- an intelligence log;
Answer: The Council holds no intelligence log relating to Sequani Limited.
- a targeted-enforcement list;
Answer: The Council holds no records identifying Sequani Limited as appearing on a targeted-enforcement list.
- or any other schedule used to identify premises or transport activity for possible inspection.
Answer: Herefordshire Council holds no records identifying Sequani or transporters for inspection.
5. If Sequani has been considered for inspection but no inspection was carried out, please provide any recorded reason for that decision. I am not asking the Council to create an explanation if none is recorded.
Answer: The Council holds no records showing that Sequani Limited has been considered for inspection and that no inspection subsequently took place.
6. The total number of welfare-in-transport inspections/checks carried out by the Council in each calendar year from 2024 to the most recent available date, broken down where recorded by type of activity or location, for example:
- markets;
Answer:
691 vehicle inspections in 2024.
395 vehicle inspections in 2025.
284 vehicle inspections in 2026 to date.
- agricultural shows;
Answer: 0
- farms;
Answer: 106 vehicle inspections on farms.
- roadside operations;
Answer: 11
- pet/commercial dog transport;
Answer: 1
- laboratory/research-animal transport;
Answer: 0
- other categories used by the Council.
Answer: 0
7. The number of those checks that involved dogs, non-human primates, or other non-farmed species, where this is recorded.
Answer: 1.
8. Any guidance, training material or instructions provided to Council officers concerning the transport of animals used for scientific or laboratory purposes, including dogs or non-human primates.
Answer: DEFRA produce statutory guidance which officers use alongside relevant legislation.
Please see the links below for further information.
Transporting animals in Great Britain - GOV.UK
Animal welfare in transport - GOV.UK
9. Any correspondence, guidance or instructions received from APHA, Defra or the Home Office concerning the division of responsibility for enforcing welfare-in-transport legislation in relation to animals transported to or from establishments regulated under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
Answer: No records.
10. Any records identifying whether the Council considers welfare-in-transport checks at research establishments such as Sequani to be:
- routine;
- intelligence-led;
- complaint-led;
- roadside-only;
- outside the Council’s normal inspection programme;
- or subject to another approach.
Answer: The Council holds no records identifying whether welfare-in-transport inspections involving research establishments, including Sequani, are categorised as routine, intelligence-led, complaint-led, roadside-only, outside of the council’s normal inspections or subject to other approaches.
11. Any performance targets, inspection targets or service objectives relating specifically to animal transport enforcement for
2024,
2025 and
2026.
Answer: No targets are set.
12. If no specific policy, risk assessment, inspection programme or guidance exists concerning laboratory-animal transport, please confirm that explicitly.
Answer: There is no specific policy, risk assessment, inspection programme or guidance concerning laboratory-animal transport, other than Statutory guidance produced by DEFRA for animals in transit.
This request does not seek details of future planned inspections, future transport movements, routes, timings, vehicle registrations or other operational information whose disclosure could prejudice enforcement or site security.
If any information is withheld, please identify the exemption relied upon and disclose the remainder with appropriate redactions.
Please provide the information electronically by email.
Documents
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