Let's improve cat welfare in Scotland

The Cat Manifesto Scotland; the definitive guide for politicians on the steps to improve cats’ lives.


Ask your MSP to attend the event in the Scottish Parliament to hear about the greater protections that cats need in law.


If you would like to see a summary of The Cat Manifesto Scotland, use the dropdown buttons below:

Cats in Scotland should be properly cared for throughout their lives. As pedigree cats become more popular, we are seeing more people trying to make a profit at the expense of the welfare of cats and kittens. We also see people with the best of intentions putting cats at risk by housing them inappropriately. Cats Protection is calling for changes to the law to give cats their best life.

  • Review regulations on cat breeding 
  • Ban the breeding of cats with extreme characteristics
  • Review animal welfare and establishment rehoming regulations
  • End unsuitable activities involving cats, including cat cafés
  • Regulate activities involving cats, including cat grooming

The internet is full of cats, but sadly, the regulation isn’t yet where it needs to be. Cats are being harmed due to a lack of action by social media companies and other websites. These sites allow ‘trends’ where people are harming their cats. They also allow kittens who are too young and ill to be sold on their platforms. Cats Protection is calling for action to protect cats in the digital world.

  • Tighten rules on selling cats online
  • Call on advertisers and the media to show cats responsibly
  • Encourage social media companies to take harmful cat content seriously

Cats face violence and cruelty far too often. Animal cruelty laws have been made stronger in recent years, but deliberate cruelty to cats is still frequent. Cats Protection is calling for stronger laws to protect cats from cruelty.

  • Create a specific offence relating to dogs attacking cats
  • Ban the sale and use of cruel aversive training device
  • Make cat theft a specific offence

Cats provide important companionship and support for many people. Becoming separated from their cat when, for example, the cat is lost or must be given up due to lack of pet-friendly housing, can be devastating. Cats Protection is calling for a recognition of the importance of cats to their families. We support laws which keep cats and their owners togethe

  • Introduce compulsory microchipping of pet cats and introduce a single point of search for microchip databases
  • Encourage pet-friendly rented housing
  • Include animal welfare in the curriculum
  • Acknowledge the benefits of cats to people’s wellbeing
  • Raise awareness of the welfare issues of cat hoarding and multi-cat households

Cats are sometimes put in danger by parts of life that we may not realise impact them, such as fireworks displays and certain flowers. Cats Protection is calling for better education about how cats can be impacted by humans.

  • Promote better labelling of toxic products like lilies
  • Restrict the use of fireworks

Take action now

Enter your details below to message your candidates asking them to make sure cats and kittens are protected in the next Parliament

1

We’d love to keep in touch, by telling you about our work with cats, inviting you to support fundraising appeals, join events, campaigns or to volunteer. However, we don’t want to bother you unnecessarily. That is why we may analyse your personal information (and in some cases add publicly available information) to help ensure we send you communications we think you will care about. Rest assured, we’ll never swap or sell any details about you with other organisations.

If you wish to change the ways we contact you, please contact Supporter Services by telephoning 0800 917 2287 Monday to Friday during office hours (9am-5pm), emailing [email protected] or writing to us at Freepost Cats Protection. Please visit www.cats.org.uk/terms-privacy if you have any questions about how we use your data.