How Scotland has fallen behind rest of UK on animal welfare – SSPCA
Scotland’s politicians are out of step with the public when it comes to looking after animals, writes Mark Bishop of the SSPCA
After Scotland went to the polls last month, election debates have given way to summer headlines, the nation is watching its first men’s World Cup appearance in nearly three decades with bated breath, and attention is shifting to a stream of other issues.
But one issue isn’t going anywhere. And if our new parliament needed a mandate to act on animal welfare, we’ve just handed them one.
The headline finding of the new UK Animal Kindness Index, exploring public attitudes towards animal welfare, is not subtle. Scotland is a nation that cares profoundly about animals, increasingly seeing them as sentient beings with inherent worth, and overwhelmingly expects its government to protect them by law.
Not a niche viewpoint
We weren’t surprised by Scotland being a nation of animal lovers. What did surprise us was the strength of support for action.
All four of the Scottish SPCA’s key manifesto asks received overwhelming backing. Our call for a national animal offenders register received support from an incredible 93 per cent of respondents. More than 85 per cent supported a review of Scotland’s 20-year-old animal welfare legislation, the introduction of a permitted list for exotic pets, and embedding animal welfare education within the school curriculum.
But the findings go even further. The political message is impossible to ignore. Two thirds of respondents say animal welfare is the responsibility of the Scottish Government. A whopping 88 per cent want to see animal welfare protected by legislation. This is not a niche viewpoint, and people across Scotland are now increasingly expecting their elected representatives to treat it as a serious policy issue.
So why hasn’t it? There always seems to be a more pressing issue: the housing crisis, the cost of living, NHS waiting lists. The argument runs that animal welfare is a secondary concern – something we’ll return to when more urgent pressures ease. It’s a position that, on the surface, sounds reasonable but is fundamentally flawed.
The reality is that animal welfare is not separate from the challenges facing communities across Scotland; it is woven throughout them. It touches public health, mental health, education, housing, justice, the environment and the cost-of-living crisis.
Scotland falling behind
We see it when families are forced to give up beloved pets because they cannot find suitable housing, when people experiencing poor mental health or loneliness rely on the companionship of an animal to get through each day, and in the pressures on public services when welfare problems are left to escalate, at which point we are invariably called in.
That is why we are calling on the Scottish Government to show they care by committing to a dedicated all-animal welfare strategy which will include our four manifesto asks. The rest of the UK has one – why is Scotland falling behind?
Animal welfare is not a stand-alone issue affecting only those with animals. It reflects the kind of society that we want to build. How we treat animals says something about our values, our communities, and our responsibilities to one another. Far from being a secondary concern, animal welfare is key to a healthy, compassionate and resilient Scotland.
At the Scottish SPCA, we see what happens when animal welfare is left to goodwill and stretched resources. After 187 years, we know better than most what cruelty really looks like.
Recently, like many charities, we’ve had to make some hard choices. Increased demand, rising costs and pressure from underfunded public services have required us to refocus. We have to direct our limited resources to those animals in greatest need: cats on their last chance, dogs forced to fight other animals, hedgehogs painfully trapped in litter, seals injured in attacks.
Those animals need, and will always have, our full efforts. But there are never enough kennels, never enough pens, never enough time. Rescue alone is not enough. It has to be about prevention – and true prevention requires policy.
Animal abusers more likely to harm people
When there are real consequences for cruelty, when animal bans are enforced, when different systems talk to each other and when animals are recognised in law as sentient beings, not property or commodities, that is when the tide turns.
There’s also something the ‘more urgent priorities’ argument consistently overlooks. The link between animal abuse and wider violence is not anecdotal. It is well-evidenced and documented.
Those who harm animals are significantly more likely to harm humans – partners, children, vulnerable people. That’s an irrefutable fact. Cruelty rarely stays contained. Investment in animal welfare is, in the most direct sense, investment in safer communities.
Then there is the generation we’re shaping right now. Teaching children empathy and responsibility towards animals – which 85 per cent of Scots want in the curriculum – is not a side ambition. It’s how we build the kind of society we say we want. The ripple effects of that education, started early, are difficult to overstate.
The public has done their part. They rank animal welfare as the second most important cause, behind only mental health. They are not asking for a consultation or a working group. They know what they want and have said so clearly.
The nation has spoken
The Scottish Parliament has an opportunity in this new session that has never before been embraced. Animal welfare matters. The data shows it is intertwined with human welfare. Countless surveys, research and evidence prove what we already know and repeatedly ask to see reflected in Scotland’s laws.
Our manifesto asks are specific, deliverable and backed by public support. None of them expects an MSP to choose animals over anything else. They only ask that Scotland’s laws catch up with Scotland’s values.
The nation has spoken. This is no longer simply an animal welfare issue; it’s a public expectation. The only question remaining is whether policymakers are prepared to listen.
Mark Bishop is chief executive of the Scottish SPCA
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