OneKind has spoken up in defence of persecuted wild birds in response to a Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) consultation on General Licences in Scotland. As a rule, it is illegal to kill any wild birds, but certain groups including farmers and gamekeepers view some species as pests and routinely control them by both non-lethal methods,… Read more
How many hares is enough?
By Libby Anderson The recent launch of Green MSP Alison Johnstone’s consultation on greater protection for foxes and hares is doubly welcome. Firstly, the proposed new legislation aims to close the legislative loopholes – the now notorious exceptions in the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 – that have allowed mounted fox hunting to… Read more
Scottish quest for quality food must include animal welfare
According to the most recent published figures (June 2018), there are 1.76 million cattle (beef and dairy), 6.59 million sheep and 317,000 pigs on farms in Scotland, as well as an estimated 14.5 million poultry birds. There are also 34,400 horses, 1,300 donkeys, 1,900 camelids and 9,700 farmed deer on Scottish farms. Some of these numbers… Read more
Fellow mortals and what they mean to us
This is the time of year when Scots and non-Scots all round the world pay all kinds of homage to Robert Burns – and OneKind is no exception. Since our earliest days, from our roots as the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection, through the years as Advocates for Animals and now, as OneKind,… Read more
Pet shop reforms should inspire bigger thinking on welfare
It is widely agreed that the legislation regulating pet sales in the UK is out of date and overdue for reform. The Pet Animals Act dates from 1951, long before the internet was invented and long before the craze for owning more and more exotic animals took hold of the public. Hardly surprising, then, that… Read more
More to discuss as sanctuaries regulations make progress
The Scottish Government has published its analysis of the responses received to the recent consultation on proposals to regulate animal sanctuaries and rehoming centres in Scotland. The consultation received a total of 185 responses, of which 73% (135) were from members of the public. A further 34 responses (18.3%) were from animal welfare charities, animal… Read more
Let’s all #SayNoToPuppyDealers
OneKind is delighted to be part of a powerful new initiative launched today to tackle the illegal puppy trade in Scotland. The project is led by the Scottish SPCA in collaboration with the Scottish Government, Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home, RSPCA, Battersea, Dogs Trust, Trading Standards Scotland, Blue Cross, OneKind, BSAVA and the University of… Read more
The circus debate: let’s get back to basics
Every summer, right up to 2011, a traditional travelling circus would make a two-month tour of southern and central Scotland. Bobby Roberts’ Super Circus always brought with it their aged, arthritic elephant Anne, taken from the wild in Sri Lanka and used for entertainment for over half a century. By 2011, she had no elephant… Read more
Why we need tougher sentencing and prevention programmes for animal cruelty
Pippa the cat was two years old. She lost her life one night in 2015, when her owner restrained, punched and slapped her, then bit her head and face before inflicting fatal injuries by slamming her against a wall. The whole incident was recorded by the owner’s terrified partner, and in due course it appeared… Read more
Animal welfare announcements: glass three-quarters full
It has been a long time coming, but today is the day that the Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (Scotland) Bill starts its progress through the Scottish Parliament. In around a year, we hope, our law will state: “A person who is a circus operator commits an offence if the person causes or permits a… Read more
Freeing a fox suffering in a snare was compassion – not a crime
We encourage anyone who finds a snare to report it to our website www.SnareWatch.org. SnareWatch aims to build the evidence base behind snaring and the impact it has on animals across the UK, and to date we have had hundreds of reports of incidents. About six months ago a relatively unusual report was submitted. A… Read more
OneKind celebrates Scotland’s commitment to ban wild animals in circuses
In its new proposed programme for Government 2016/17, the Scottish Parliament has pledged to introduce a Bill this session to end the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in Scotland. This follows decades of campaigning and lobbying for a ban by OneKind and the Born Free Foundation. Libby Anderson, our policy adviser who has… Read more
