‘Scottish’ newspaper platforms English charity warning of dangerous ‘refugee’ dog organisations that cannot operate in Scotland and cannot be bothered to helpfully inform its readers of the details of the law in Scotland

Professor John Robertson OBA

In the Daily Record on 28 July, 2025, the above and:

Buying or adopting a dog always comes with risks, namely around the canine’s health and/or how likely they are to lash out or not take to training as well as the owner would hope.

There are also circumstances that can exacerbate these risks, and it turned out importing dogs into the UK is one of them, according to an animal charity, which is calling for stricter regulations on animal rescues doing just that.

The RSPCA has cited concerns about disease risks and behavioural issues, just as government statistics show that in 2023, 320,000 pets were brought into the UK under travel pet schemes and 44,000 entered as commercial imports.

So, after a big headline and three paragraphs in, readers might be forgiven for thinking that this all applies to Record-readers in Scotland. It doesn’t. The RSPCA does not operate in Scotland though there are rumours that it takes donations from Scots which should really go to the SSPCA which does do good work here.

Only after 11 paragraphs do we see:

Currently, rescue organisations in Scotland must be licensed, but there is no such rule for England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

There follow 5 more paragraphs on the plan to catch up with Scotland in Westminster but no reference, of course, to this extract from Scottish Government regulations put in place 5 years ago and which highlight the limitations of the devolution settlement:

Rehoming will require a licence where 5 animals are supplied as pets in a single movement or where 5 animals are cumulatively supplied as pets over the course of any 12 month period. The supply of an animal as a pet to a person residing in Scotland only counts towards the 5 animal threshold if the handover of the animal occurs in Scotland. For example, if the individual being supplied with an animal travels to England to collect it from the person supplying it then it does not count towards the threshold as the supply did not occur in Scotland.

The activity of animal rehoming relates to both the rehoming of animals originating within and outwith Scotland. An example would be a person, charity or other organisation that sources street or rescue dogs from eastern Europe for the purposes of rehoming them as pets with persons in Scotland, if the threshold number of animals is supplied within a 12 month period.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/animal-welfare-licensing-activities-involving-animals-scotland-regulations-2021-guidance-animal-rehoming-activities/pages/2/

It’s difficult not to think of this as just another example of what 46 years of Tory/New Labour contempt for regulation has cost in contexts such as English tower block fires due to lower building standards and reduced inspections, and in English care homes where staff do not have to be registered and so were unfit to prevent grooming gangs raping the children in those homes.

7 thoughts on “‘Scottish’ newspaper platforms English charity warning of dangerous ‘refugee’ dog organisations that cannot operate in Scotland and cannot be bothered to helpfully inform its readers of the details of the law in Scotland”

  3. I once asked two of my grandsons a number of years ago, when they were teenagers, if they had ever bought a newspaper. They looked at me with blank stares as though I was daft. When they had recovered from my question, they said they had never bought one, and had no intention of ever doing so. And both want Independence for Scotland.

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  4. The instances of English charities fund raising in Scotland came to my attention during covid lockdown. Working at home with daytime TV in the backgrond it was noticable on many Freeview channels how many groups like the RSPCA have their adverts beamed in to Scottish homes unchallenged.

    The other thing I picked up on was just how many of these quite high profile game shows that are that in no way Scottish but that have the BBC Scotland logo at the foor of the end credits. I.e. the production company opens a shell office in Scotland, pitches their idea, bags part of the Scottish budget then produce their product in England.

    Rgds

    Graham

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  5. Yes there is confusion about animal charities and indeed other types, in the Uk, in England and those specific to Scotland. Many English based charities do operate in Scotland, but the moeny collected in Scotland goes to England. there used to be a charity shop near us with ‘what’s made in Scotland stays in Scotland’ that sign has gone now! Many charities operating in Scotland are only too happy to take the peoples’ money and donations, but it’s confusing as to where that money ends up…

    I recently had to liaise with neighbours about 2 Seagull fledglings in the shared gardens and what to do about them. Some people mentioned calling the RSPCA, not interested in the SSPCA, and not all know about the SSPCA, which is an excellent Scottish animal charity. Worth giving a few £’s a month if you can folks.

    I remember a few years ago wihen the RNLI planned to close down a marine rescue centre off the south coast of Scotland, not sure if they did that but people were damn disgusted saying as that part of the coast is such a risk for sailors and it’s meant to be a UK organisation.

    Again Scotland is held back in regulating organisations and such because of the links with England. Need to break the links.

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    1. Almost all of my charitable donations go to local ones or those that are definitely Scottish. Can’t ensure my money, or proceeds from donated items, is used in Scotland otherwise.

      John H

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