John Swinney denies pet cats could be banned in Scotland to help protect wildlife

Cats won't face a crackdown
-Credit:Getty Images


John Swinney has denied Scots could be banned from keeping cats as pets in a bid to protect wild animals.

The First Minister was responding claims from the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) which warned domesticated felines have a "significant impact on wildlife populations".

In a submission to the Scottish Government, SAWC called for SNP ministers to ask NatureScot to commission a report into the advantages and disadvantages for wildlife of introducing cat containment zones in "vulnerable areas".

If implemented, residents in those zones could be forced to keep their pets indoors - or banned from getting them in the first place.

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SAWC suggested that new housing developments in rural regions "could have a stipulation that cats may not be kept in conservation-sensitive areas", or in the vicinity of endangered birds and wildlife.

But the suggestion was shot down by Swinney today after the story was widely shared on news platforms today.

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Speaking to broadcasters, the First Minister said" "There's a report been produced by an external organisation, which has come into the Government for consideration. Let me clear this up today - the Government is not going to be banning cats, or restricting cats. We have no intention of doing so."

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SAWC's report - titled Responsible Ownership and Care of Domestic Cats in Scotland - noted that hunting in cats "is not driven by hunger", and domestic pets "have a tendency to play with their prey and bring back live often injured prey to their owners".

It has been estimated that cats across the UK bring home tens of millions of animals each year - including birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

SAWC said given only a proportion of prey is brought home, "the actual number of wild prey killed could reach at least 700 million vertebrates per year in the UK".

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