Blue Cross welcomes Scottish government announcement on animal welfare

Blue Cross welcomes today’s announcement by Roseanna Cunningham MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, detailing a range of animal welfare measures.

We are pleased to see the announcement include a number of the recommendations from our Scottish Manifesto for Pets including:

• Measures for the registration and licensing of animal shelters and rehoming activities. This will ensure that all rehoming and rescue organisations provide the best possible care for pets and prevent further suffering when a facility is struggling to cope.
• A review of the penalties available for animal welfare offences. The current sentencing for animal cruelty offences is far too low and does not reflect the serious nature of the crime.
• Update regulations governing the licensing of dog, cat and rabbit breeding and dealing – including the irresponsible breeding and sale of these. Blue Cross is pleased to see the Scottish government acknowledge the huge problems with the breeding and sale of pets and the need to update the regulations to ensure welfare is protected. However, there are however concerns that the Scottish government have made no mention of the previously promised review into the exotic pet trade. Many of these exotic species are kept and sold in Scotland and Blue Cross would like to see any regulations take this into account.  

Becky Thwaites, Head of Public Affairs for Blue Cross, said: “While we are pleased to see many of our recommendations taken on board there is more the Scottish government can do. We were disappointed that the opportunity to ban the use of electronic shock collars has been missed.

"We were also disappointed to see the Scottish government weaken their stance on tail docking, allowing some puppies to have their tails shortened. We believe these acts are cruel and pets are genuinely suffering. Blue Cross will therefore continue to lobby for improvement and the protection of hundreds of thousands of animals.”