Hansard

The Convener Lab

Agenda item 2 is on new petition PE1674, on managing the cat population in Scotland, which was lodged by Ellie Stirling. The petition calls for a review of t...

Ellie Stirling

It is a privilege to have this opportunity and I really appreciate it. The committee’s consideration of my petition represents a change of tack from the prev...

The Convener Lab

Thank you. I invite ask Angus MacDonald to open the questioning.

Angus MacDonald SNP

In your submission, you say that you have written to the Scottish Government, the cabinet secretary, the cross-party group on animal welfare and your regiona...

Ellie Stirling

I have written three times to the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and received responses from the animal welfare sectio...

Angus MacDonald SNP

The figures in your submission are quite staggering. With 400,000 feral cats, and with 286,000 kittens being born every year, we can see the reason for the o...

Michelle Ballantyne Con

I have to say that I am a bit shocked. I did not know all this information about cats so the petition made for interesting reading. You said that ownership ...

Ellie Stirling

When I did the research earlier this year, I was also quite stunned to find that definition. Because cats, dogs and farmed animals are all classified as non-...

Michelle Ballantyne Con

How would breeders and showers be dealt with under that arrangement? Would they have to be specially licensed?

Ellie Stirling

I have not worked in those areas of licensing, but there would be nothing to stop a person being a breeder of cats. There is no compulsion to not breed. Some...

Brian Whittle Con

In the petition, you say that you believe that a new approach is required because 10 per cent of cat owners do not have their cats neutered, despite appeals ...

Ellie Stirling

Thank you for the question. The approach that you have outlined—which could be summed up as the voluntary approach—is what I have relied on until recently. I...

Brian Whittle Con

Is there the possibility of compulsory registration, not just of pet cats but of pet animals?

Ellie Stirling

I would suggest something similar to dog microchipping. All dogs now have to be microchipped and the microchip is registered on a managed database. If you ar...

Rona Mackay SNP

I should declare an interest. I am a member of the cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on animal welfare. I follow on the questioning from my colle...

Ellie Stirling

People in Government, quite genuinely, have not had time to process the statistics. I was shocked by the statistics and you have said that you were too. I ha...

Rona Mackay SNP

Briefly, I ask for clarification on a second point. In the second part of your submission, you include a proposal from Anna Meredith from Scottish Wildcat Ac...

Ellie Stirling

I should say that I made a typing error in my submission. Professor Anna Meredith is the professor of zoological and conservation medicine at the University ...

Rona Mackay SNP

Thank you—that clears up that matter.

Angus MacDonald SNP

You have listed five things—they are in the petition, so I will not list them—that you would like to see happen through any review of the code of practice. H...

Ellie Stirling

I am not sure that I follow you.

Angus MacDonald SNP

I am talking about the five items that relate to the code of practice—the native range guidance associated with the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotlan...

Ellie Stirling

Yes, please.

Angus MacDonald SNP

Number 1 is that a neutered cat should be defined as being under human control and exempt from NNS legislation. Are you with me now?

Ellie Stirling

Thank you. I have got it now—that is at the bottom of the second page of my petition. What would you like me to explain?

Angus MacDonald SNP

Will you explain how you would like to see the five asks happen through any review of the code of practice?

Ellie Stirling

You want to know about the practicalities of how all that would be done.

Angus MacDonald SNP

Yes, and whether you have considered the cost of enforcement.

Ellie Stirling

Right. We have possibly already covered number 1. There could be a simple redefinition in the code of practice so that an owned cat is defined not as being u...

Angus MacDonald SNP

Of course, it is not just Scotland that has the wildcat. Are you aware of any other countries in northern Europe that have a similar problem? Have any countr...