Skip to main content
Home
0
DONATE
DONATE »

Main navigation

  • Support
    Support
    • How to help while you stay at home
    • Items you can donate
    • Donate
    • Events
    • Fundraise
    • Volunteer
    • Sponsor a space
    • Corporate Giving
      Corporate Giving
      • Corporate partnerships
      • 5p Carrier bags
      • Payroll giving
      • Staff fundraising
      • Trusts & foundations
    • Leave a gift in your Will
    • Gift Aid
    • Return your funds raised

    Support Us

    How to support

    Donate

    Items you can donate

    Fundraise

    Volunteer

    Sponsor a Space

    Leave a Gift in your Will

     

    Events

    View All Events

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Volunteer

    Get Involved

    Work experience and youth volunteering

    Further education placements

    Animal Fostering Programme

     

    Corporate Giving

    Corporate partnerships

    Staff fundraising

    Trusts & foundations

    Payroll giving

    5p carrier bags

    Ways to donate

  • Rehome
    Rehome
    • Rehome
    • Find a pet
    • Rehoming FAQs
    • Rehoming next steps
    • Success Stories

    REHOME

    Rehome an animal

    Rehoming next steps

    Rehoming FAQs

     

    ANIMALS

    Dogs

    Cats

    Rabbits

    Small Pets

    View All

     

    Ways to donate

  • Advice
    Advice
    • Domestic
      Domestic
      • Dogs
      • Cats
      • Rabbits
      • Guinea Pigs
      • Equines
      • Snakes
      • Ferrets
    • Wildlife
      Wildlife
      • Wildlife FAQs
      • Air
      • Land
      • Water
    • Farm
      Farm
      • Cattle
      • Sheep
      • Poultry
      • Pigs

    Domestic

    View All

    Dogs

    Cats

    Rabbits

    Guinea Pigs

    Snakes

    Ferrets

    Equines

    Wildlife

    View All

    Land

    Water

    Air

    Wildlife FAQs

    Wildlife wise

    Farm

    View All

    Cattle

    Sheep

    Poultry

    Pigs

     

    Ways to donate

  • Our work
    Our work
    • Campaigns
      Campaigns
      • Dogs Die In Hot Cars
      • Temporary Refuge
      • Wildlife Wise
      • Championing Animal Welfare Law
    • Our Teams
      Our Teams
      • Inspectors
      • Animal Rescue Officers
      • Helpline
      • Special Investigations Unit
      • Education Officers
      • Animal Care
      • Vets
    • Our services
      Our services
      • Forever Care
      • Microchipping
      • Neutering
      • Licensing of animal sanctuaries
    • Aberdeenshire
    • Adventure Clubs
    • Angus, Fife & Tayside
    • Animal Guardians
    • Animal WISE for Early Years
    • Animal WISE for Primary
    • Animal WISE for Secondary
    • Animal WISE for communities
      Animal WISE for communities
      • Animals and People Together Project
      • Changing lives through nature
      • Community talks
      • Parents and Carers
    • Animal Wise
    • Ayrshire & Southwest Scotland
    • Caithness & Sutherland
    • Corporate Workshops
    • Dunbartonshire & West of Scotland
    • Edinburgh & Lothians
    • Glasgow
    • Highlands & Islands
    • Lanarkshire
    • National Wildlife Rescue Centre
    • Our partners and supporters
    • Resources

    Campaigns

    View All Campaigns

    Here For All Animals, Always

    Temporary Refuge

    Wildlife Wise

    Championing Animal Welfare Law

    Keep Me Off Your Xmas List

    Horse Shelter Appeal

     

    Teams

    View All Teams

    Inspectors

    Animal Rescue Officers

    Helpline

    Special Investigations Unit

    Education Officers

    Veterinary

    Animal Care Team

    Services

    View All Services

    Forever Care

    Microchipping

    Neutering

    Assured Puppy Breeder Scheme

    Fostering

    Education

    Animal WISE

    Fabulous Finn

    Ways to donate

  • Shop

Keep me off your Xmas list


The real cost of buying a puppy at Christmas is their life.

 

We are urging the public not to buy a puppy as a present this Christmas and to support our #KeepMeOffYourXmasList campaign.

We want to stop people and animals suffering as a result of buying sick or dying puppies from low-welfare breeders.

 

 

 

From January 1 to October 31 this year...

Image
Puppy Trading

1,059 calls

were made to our animal helpline regarding low-welfare puppy breeding.

This is compared to 702 calls in 2020. That’s a 34% increase in just a year.

Image
Puppy

56 puppies

have been seized so far this year by our special investigations unit.

Image
Alsatian Puppies

150 puppies

were saved from the low-welfare industry in 2020.

On 29 October, our special investigations unit and frontline worked together on a sting and successfully targeted prolific dealers in the Aberdeen area who we know have sold puppies who have sadly passed away.

You can read more about this here.

 

The warning signs you are buying from a low-welfare dealer

 

Paw  You may be rushed into parting with cash in exchange for a puppy.

Paw  Do not pay a deposit for a pet you haven’t met in person.

Paw  They may try to fob you off by saying that the puppy’s mother is at the vets, asleep or out for a walk. If the mum isn’t there, then the puppy wasn’t bred there.

Paw  If mum is present she should be interacting with the pups, an unrelated mother will not.

Paw  They might offer to deliver a puppy to you or meet you somewhere random – like a car park. Never allow this to happen.

Paw  Excuses will be given for why they need to drop the puppy to you. Do not accept any excuse, no matter how plausible it seems.

Paw  They may say that any concerns you raise about the puppy’s health issues are ‘normal for the breed’ – but puppy farming can lead to major and in some cases lethal health issues.

Paw  They either won’t have paperwork or certificates or they will be faked. A responsible breeder won’t mind you calling the vet mentioned on the paperwork. Do not accept being told paperwork will be forwarded on at a later date.

Paw  They won’t produce a local authority license or any evidence that they are a member of the Kennel Club assured breeder scheme or the Scottish SPCA Assured Puppy Breeder Sceme.

Remember, these people are master manipulators and will try anything to make you believe they are legitimate and responsible breeders.

The only reason that these dealers are able to operate is because of the demand for puppies. We need the public to act responsibly and not contribute to this appalling trade.

Public demand will fuel this trade and as long as it does, bad dealers will find any means to operate.

The SIU at the Scottish SPCA spearhead Operation Delphin, a multi-agency taskforce designed to bring illegal puppy traders to justice.

It is supported by Dumfries & Galloway Council, ISPCA, RSPCA, USPCA, DSPCA, Stena Line, Police Scotland and others.

Find out more about low-welfare puppy farming by visiting

#SayNoToPuppyDealers.

 

 

Appeal for information after dog poisoned in Edinburgh park

We are appealing for information after a dog ingested poison in Dovecot Park, Edinburgh on 22 June.

 

FOLLOW US ON
ABOUT US

 

Our Business Plan

2021 Annual Review

Gender Pay Gap Report

Our Board

CONNECT

 

Contact Us

Latest News

Careers

Press & Media Enquiries

OUR VISION FOR ANIMALS

 

For All Animals

ANIMAL HELPLINE

 

03000 999 999

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Image
SSPCA logo
Image
SSPCA Registered Charity
Home

Animal helpline

03000 999 999

Report concerns FAQs

If you wish to report an injured or distressed animal, please call our animal helpline on the number shown above. 

The Scottish SPCA is now using what3words. Download the app to get the unique three word code for your location and make it easier for our team to respond to your call.

As we are only rehoming via our website right now, please don't call us if that's what you are enquiring about, so our helpline team can assist those with animals in urgent need.