Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 March 2022
I thank Maurice Golden for securing this evening’s debate on the important subject of dog theft. We are a nation of dog lovers. As the stories that many members have shared illustrate, dogs can be irreplaceable members of the family. I started my day by being woken up by my dog jumping on to my bed and licking my face. That is not my favourite thing, but there you go.
Over the past two years of the pandemic, dogs and other pets—there has been much mention of cats, too—have provided companionship for many people, especially for those who live alone, at a time when social contact has been limited to prevent the spread of coronavirus. People who have dogs or other pets will find it all too easy to imagine the sense of loss, anger and hopelessness that they would feel if their dog were to be stolen.
Although I absolutely acknowledge that any theft of a dog is a serious matter that can cause real anxiety and upset to its owners, it is important to note, by way of context, that it is not a high-volume crime in Scotland. Last year, the Scottish Government contacted Police Scotland, which told us that its internal records showed that 62 cases had been recorded across the whole of Scotland in 2019-20. That figure increased to 88 cases in 2020-21, but that is still a low number in the context of the number of dogs in Scotland. As members have noted, that increase is likely to have been driven by the rise in demand for puppies during the lockdown in that year.