Meeting of the Parliament 09 May 2024
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. As one of the culprits, I apologise.
I welcome today’s debate and the progress that it represents. To members who came into Parliament just this session, I say that I have been working with a wide range of organisations on the policy in the Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill for the past seven years—it seems longer. I genuinely welcome the valuable work of the lead committee and the constructive series of recommendations that it has produced as a result of its scrutiny of the bill. It gave me food for thought and did its job well.
I will focus on a number of those recommendations later but, first, I want to talk about why the bill is needed. Many moons ago, there was a song called “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?” which went:
“How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail ...
I do hope that doggie's for sale”—
I will not sing it. The sale of puppies in pet shop windows has long been banned—but has it? Windows have changed to Microsoft Windows and the internet, and the understandable impulse to acquire a puppy or young dog has remained—indeed, if anything, the pandemic increased that demand, for reasons that, quite frankly, I fully understand.
My second preliminary point is that the proposed legislation is not to punish or blame but to educate. We would agree that there is a surge in the level of dog ownership across Scotland combined with a lack of an informed approach from the public to buying a dog. With criminals always alert to demand and profitable opportunities, there has been a rise in unscrupulous breeding through, for example, puppy factory farming, where puppies and breeding bitches are kept in appalling conditions—unsocialised and often very sick—then marketed as expensive, desirable commodities.
Purchasers who are unaware of the reality behind the cute online images pay thousands, and the conveyor belt of misery continues. Purchasers might even have bought a puppy to “save” it—they might save that puppy but not the next or the next. Despite worthy endeavours by the Government and animal welfare agencies, illegal breeding and heart-over-head, casual purchases from unscrupulous suppliers continue. I consider that the issue might best be attacked by addressing demand.
Some six years or more ago, I had a similar bill ready for the off when the pandemic put everything on hold for two years. The pandemic only emphasised to me the need for my bill.
Referencing the illegal trade, extracts of evidence from key stakeholders who support my bill demonstrate the scale of the issue. The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that the illegal puppy trade is worth £13 million. Animal Trust has highlighted the huge rise in problems that have arisen from people buying dogs that they cannot properly look after, including the fact that abandonment rates continue to rise, with 96 per cent of rehoming centres reporting an increase in behavioural issues.
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home found that only 5 to 10 per cent of puppies across the United Kingdom are coming from licensed breeders, who should ensure healthy puppies and appropriate new owners. Up to 95 per cent of puppies are bought from unlicensed sellers.
Calls to a helpline run by the Scottish SPCA on giving up pets have quadrupled, with costs, vet care and inappropriate living conditions cited as common reasons. A recent survey found that only 29 per cent of people considered cost when they got their pet. Dogs are the most frequently abandoned animal, and rehoming centres are experiencing incredible financial pressures as a result.
Evidence from the Dogs Trust is among the weight of support for the bill that was received by the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee. Its submission describes the purpose of the bill as
“educating and providing prospective dog owners with the tools to purchase or rehome a dog more responsibly, and to identify and avoid unscrupulous breeding practices.”