TIME IS MEOW campaign launches today
Cats Protection has welcomed ground-breaking new laws on animal welfare in Scotland but said more still needed to be done to help cats.
The charity says new licensing regulations which come into force today will help to stamp out rogue cat breeders who put profit before the welfare of kittens and cats.
Cats Protection’s Advocacy & Government Relations Officer for Scotland Alice Palombo said: “These new licensing laws have come at a time when we need them the most.
“Over the past 18 months of the pandemic, a combination of increased demand for kittens and restrictions on household visiting has created the perfect conditions for unscrupulous breeders to flourish.
“We’ve heard countless stories of how people have been duped into buying underage, poorly kittens which either haven’t survived or have needed costly veterinary care. It’s not just the kittens that suffer – behind closed doors there are many female cats forced to have litter after litter in poor welfare conditions.”
Under the new licensing laws, anyone breeding three or more litters of kittens in any 12-month period must be licensed, and female cats will be limited to having a maximum of two litters within a year.
Breeders will also be banned from breeding cats with extreme traits which can lead to health conditions, such as the Scottish Fold.
Erin Macqueen, 22, from Glasgow, had a devastating experience in March 2021 when the kitten she purchased for £250 turned out to be just five weeks old. The tiny kitten, named Frankie, died just a few weeks later from a condition believed to be related to its poor start in life.
Erin explained: “Frankie had been advertised as a male 12-week-old kitten. When I took Frankie to the vets, I was told she was actually a girl, and was in fact only five weeks old.
“Alarm bells had rung when the seller delivered her to me – she wasn’t even in a cat carrier, the seller just had her tucked under her coat. I could see straight away that Frankie was tiny, but by that point it’s just too heart-breaking to say no. I didn’t know what I’d be sending her back to.”
After becoming unwell, Frankie was diagnosed with untreatable Feline Infectious Peritonitis and had to be put to sleep, causing huge emotional distress to Erin and leaving her with a £750 vet bill.
She said: “It was the vet’s opinion that she developed this as a result of being bred in poor conditions, probably among many other cats and kittens.
“With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that Frankie had probably been one of many kittens just bred and sold to make a quick profit. In her last days of life, she suffered greatly, and it was a very stressful and emotional time.”
With the new laws coming into force today, Cats Protection is now launching its Time is Meow campaign to ask the Scottish Government to go further to help protect cats.
The five-point action plan details what is needed to continue to ensure cats are better protected in Scotland, including the introduction of compulsory microchipping for pet cats, a ban on snares, encouraging landlords to allow renters to own cats, inclusion of animal welfare in the National Curriculum and further work to tackle unscrupulous cat breeding.
Alice added: “Scotland is leading the way in the UK when it comes to regulating cat breeding and animal rescues. As well as these new licensing laws, Scotland also has strict laws on air gun licensing which helps protect cats from the random attacks we see in Wales and England.
“This is all great news, but there is always more to be done and we want to see Scotland go further.
“Our Time is Meow cat welfare action plan includes issues which will benefit people as well as cats – in particular, encouraging landlords to allow their tenants to own a cat. At a time when we’re all spending more time at home, pet ownership is vitally important to our wellbeing and for helping tackle loneliness.”
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