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This information applies to Scotland only
Getting and owning a pet
Responsibilities of an owner
When you buy a pet you have a legal duty to care for it. You have to make sure that it is fed properly, has a suitable environment and accommodation. If it needs exercise you should ensure that it can run around or get taken for walks. You can get advice about diet and exercise from the person or shop that you bought the animal from or from the General Animal Care section of the SSPCA website.
If you do not meet the animal’s needs and you cause it unnecessary suffering because you are neglecting it you are breaking the law. See under Cruelty to animals
It is illegal to sell an animal to a child under 16 unless a parent or other carer gives permission. A child under 16 can still be the owner to show or exhibit the pet.
Pet insurance and help with vet costs
Caring for an animal involves getting help from a vet from time to time, for example for routine health checks or because the animal has an accident or becomes ill. There are many pet health care schemes which can save you a lot of money on the vet’s bills if your pet becomes seriously ill.
If you are on a low income you may be able to get health care for your pet from the local People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA).
Dangerous animals
You need a licence to keep an animal that may cause injury or damage, for example, a poisonous snake or alligator. You can get a licence for the animal from the local authority environmental health department. It can refuse to give you one if it doesn’t think you are capable of controlling the animal or you are not providing suitable accommodation that is escape-proof.
It is an offence for any dog to be out of control in a public place. If you keep a dog to protect your home you do not have to put up a warning notice about it but if the dog attacks someone you could be prosecuted for having a dangerous animal. A court can order a dog to be muzzled, kept on a lead or destroyed. If your dog injures someone a claim can be made against you for compensation even if you are not prosecuted.
For more information about personal injuries, see Personal injuries.
If you have a trained guard dog protecting business premises there are special rules, see under heading Guard dogs.
Horses
You have to have a passport for each horse you own unless it is registered with the New Forest Verderers or Dartmoor Commoners Council. You must have the passport by the 31 December of the year of its birth or six months after it was born, whichever is the later date. If you are selling or destroying a foal you might have to get the passport earlier than this.
You have to have the passport with the horse whenever it travels, to the vet, competitions or to sell it.
A list of UK organisations authorised to issue horse passports is available in the horse passport pages of the A – Z section of DEFRA’s (Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) website www.defra.gov.uk or from the DEFRA telephone helpline on 0845 933 5577.
You can get a copy of the guidance on horse passports and where to get them in Scotland from the animal health and welfare pages of the agricultural section of the Scottish Government website www.scotland.gov.uk.
Importing a pet
You will probably need a licence to import an animal or bird from another country. When it arrives it will have to go into quarantine for about 6 months at your expense but special rules apply to cats and dogs under the PETS scheme. If the dog or cat has travelled from the other country by an authorised carrier and has special health certificates proving that vaccinations for rabies and treatment for tapeworm have been given to the animal it may not have to go into quarantine.
You can get more information about the rules for the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) from the animal health and welfare branch of the Scottish Government Rural Directorate on 0131 244 6179.
You can check on the need for a licence and what else you need to know about importing an animal from:-
The Scottish Government
Pentland House
47 Robb’s Loan
Edinburgh
EH14 1TW
Tel: 0131 556 8400
Taking a pet to another country
If you want to take your pet to live in another country you should consult the embassy or consulate of the country you are moving to about the rules on vaccinations or quarantine.
A full list of embassies and consulates is available in Whitaker’s Almanac. You can ask your local library to get a copy for you.
When you cannot look after your pet
Sometimes you may have to organise for your pet to be cared for by someone else because, for example, you have to go into hospital or a residential care home or you have a long term illness.
You can get help with emergency short term care from the Scottish Pet Fostering Service on 01877 331496 and full details on www.pfss.org.uk
If you are over retirement age or terminally ill and need help with caring for the animal or a new home for it contact The Cinnamon Trust on 01736 757 900 or:-
The Cinnamon Trust
Foundry House
Foundry Square
Hayle
Penzance
Cornwall
TR27 4HH
Tel: 01736 757 900
Fax: 01736 757 010
E-mail: admin@cinnamon.org.uk
Website: www.cinnamon.org.uk
Death of a pet
You should ask your vet for advice about what to do when your pet dies. Many people like to bury the animal in the garden.
Some local cemeteries have sections for the burial of pets. A vet will be able to give you information on this or make arrangements for the pet to be cremated, if this is what you chose.
You can get help from The Blue Cross and the Society for Companion Animal Studies who run a Pet Bereavement Support Service (PBSS) for people whose pets have died, gone missing or had to be given up.
The service is provided via a telephone helpline that links callers to a national network of trained volunteers. The helpline number is 0800 096 6606 and is available every day from 8.30am to 8.30pm, with an answermachine outside these hours.
You will be given the details of a local contact. The first call to the helpline is free. After that, calls are usually charged at local rates. Alternatively you can request help and advice by e-mail, which is redirected to a trained e-mail befriender. They will endeavour to get back to any request as soon as possible, within a maximum of 48 hours.
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Cruelty to animals
How to report suspected cruelty
If you suspect that an animal is being neglected or treated cruelly you can contact one or more of the following:-
The police, animal health officers in the local authority or inspectors from the SSPCA can remove the animal to a place of safety even before a court decides whether or not an offence has been committed.
In some cases the inspectors or other officer do not need a warrant to enter the property and remove the animal. However a warrant is required to enter a domestic building, for example, your neighbour’s house and if your neighbour refuses to let the police or other inspector in it will take 24 hours before they can get in with a warrant.
If an animal has been abandoned its owner can be prosecuted. A court will decide if an offence has been committed based on the condition the animal was in.
Banned and regulated activities
Slaughter and experiments on animals
There are strict rules about what experiments can be done on animals and how animals have to be slaughtered. Exceptions to the rules on slaughter can be made to allow for Jewish and Muslim methods of slaughter. Your local authority environmental health department can give you more information.
Live animals as prizes
It is illegal to offer live animals as prizes. This includes goldfish at a fun-fair or any live animal as a raffle prize.
Circus animals
There are strict rules about what animals can perform in a circus and how they should be treated.
If you think a performing animal is being mistreated you can contact the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or the police to investigate the problem.
Organised animal fights
It is illegal to organise an animal fight, for example between dogs, or cocks. It is also illegal to attend an organised fight, bet on it, allow your premises to be used for the fight or show or distribute a recording of it.
Penalties for animal cruelty
If you are found guilty of serious neglect of an animal or animal fighting offences you can be imprisoned for up to 12 months, fined £20,000 or both.
Once a court has convicted you for offences against an animal it can make a number of orders to restrict your contact with animals generally and remove the animal you neglected.
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Animals causing a nuisance
What you can do when you know who the owner is
How you deal with an animal causing a nuisance will depend on the type of problem caused by the animal and who owns the animal. If you know the owners it is usually worth contacting them to try to resolve the problem.
If the problems continue you can apply to the district court for an order that will instruct the owner of the animal to stop it from annoying you. If the animal has caused significant damage you can claim compensation from the owner at the same time as applying for the order. You should discuss this option with a solicitor.
If you are having problems because of a dangerous animal it is quite clear in law that the owner is responsible for the animal and may need a licence for it. A dog should never be out of control in a public place. See under Dangerous animals.
For more information about resolving problems with neighbours, see Neighbour disputes.
What you can do when you don’t know who the owner is
If you don’t know who owns the animal you have a few choices about what to do.
You could take action to control the animal’s behaviour, for example, by putting up a fence to prevent it getting access to your garden. If you erect anything that could harm the animal you could be prosecuted if the animal or a person is injured.
The local authority environmental health department has responsibility to deal with a lot of the problems that animals can cause so you should contact them to see if they can help. It has particular responsibility for problems of dogs fouling. See under Dog fouling
You could contact the police but often they will not get involved unless a crime has been committed. They do have responsibility to help with lost or stray dogs. See under Stray dogs and cats
Stray dogs and cats
If you find a stray dog without a collar you can report this to the local authority environmental health department who must employ a dog warden or you can contact the police. You will be committing an offence if you keep it without reporting that you have found it. If the original owner is not traced within two months and you have been looking after the dog you will usually be allowed to keep it.
If you find a stray cat and can identify who the owner is you should return it. If you do not know the owner you do not have to report that you have found it but you may choose to put up signs locally to help the owner reclaim it. Domestic cats are protected by law and it is an offence to trap, injure or kill them.
Guard dogs
If you are using a dog to guard a dwelling house or agricultural land you have a responsibility to make sure it is not out of control in a public place.
If you have guard dogs for business premises there should be clear warning notices about the guard dogs on the premises and the dog should be under the control of a dog handler or securely tethered.
Dogs worrying livestock
You are committing an offence if you let your dog worry livestock on any agricultural land. Worrying includes attacking or chasing in a way that might reasonably be expected to cause injury, suffering or loss. It is also an offence to have a dog in a field or enclosure where there are sheep if the dog is not on a lead or under close control.
If your dog kills or injures livestock, you may be sued for damages. You may be less liable for any damage done if the livestock strayed on to your land.
If a farmer kills or injures your dog, s/he may offer as a defence that this was done to protect the livestock.
Bulls
A bull in itself is not defined as a dangerous animal. If a bull has behaved aggressively, it is important to consider whether, for example, the owner of the bull took reasonable care to ensure that people did not come into contact with the bull, whether the bull was fenced in; or if it was in an open field, whether a notice was displayed.
If an individual bull is known to be dangerous or to have a fierce disposition, the owner of the bull is always liable if it attacks someone or causes injury. This means there can be no defence by the owner of the bull that s/he took reasonable care to avoid it causing injury.
It is a criminal offence punishable by a fine to keep bulls in fields through which there is a right of way, unless they are:-
- under ten months old; and/or
- not one of the recognised dairy breeds and are accompanied by cows or heifers.
The Health and Safety Executive publishes an information sheet on Keeping cattle in fields with public access.
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Organisations
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA)
The SSPCA is a charity that exists to prevent cruelty to animals. It has a team of inspectors who can investigate claims of cruelty but also give people advice about caring for their animal. It runs a network of animal welfare centres and you can find your nearest one from the website.
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA)
Braehead Mains
603 Queensferry Road
Edinburgh
EH4 6EA
Tel: 0131 339 0222
Animal helpline (Inverness and Highland): 01463 231 191
Animal helpline (Aberdeen): 01224 581 236
Animal helpline (South and Central belt): 0870 737 7722
Fax: 0131 339 4777
E-mail: enquiries@scottishspca.org
Website: www.scottishspca.org
The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA)
The PDSA is a charity, with branches in most towns, which provides free veterinary treatment for animals whose owners are on a low income. In order to use its services, the client must be claiming housing benefit or council tax benefit.
To find your nearest PDSA go to the Find Us option on its website
The PDSA provides general treatment for sick animals. However, it does not vaccinate animals, neuter cats and dogs, offer home visits or offer transport to its surgeries.
People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA)
Head Office
Whitechapel Way
Priorslee
Telford
Shropshire
TF2 9PQ
Helpline: 0800 731 2502 (Mon-Fri 9.00am-5.00pm)
Tel: 01952 290 999
Fax: 01952 291 035
Website: www.pdsa.org.uk
Other animal welfare organisations
To find your nearest animal welfare organisation go to www.upmystreet.com.
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