The Scottish SPCA has enjoyed a bumper year of success in 2025, from the launch of our manifesto ahead of the 2026 Scottish election to our ongoing protection of Scotland’s varied wildlife.
Our Inspectors, Animal Rescue Officers and Animal Care Assistants have been busy rescuing and caring for animals up and down the country. This year, our Animal Rescue Officers attended 25,771 and Inspectors attended 1463 wildlife incidents. 4,412 animals arrived at our National Wildlife Centre at Fishcross for specialist care and 2,121 were released back into the wild.
On top of our daily work attending wildlife incidents and tending to the dogs and cats, rodents and reptiles who need our help, we’ve been busy launching our new manifesto.
This is part of our wider advocacy work, campaigning for an animal offenders register, animal welfare to be brought into the Scottish curriculum, a review of the current Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 and the introduction of a ‘permitted list’ of animals which can legally be kept as pets.
To ensure no pet owners are priced out of food and vet care
Community first is the approach we take to all of our work, so we have been working hard on our Pet Aid initiative which aims to ensure no pet owners are priced out of food and vet care for their beloved companions. Our Pet Aid Food Bank team delivered 82,137 meals to pets across the country and supported 60 food banks overall. Our Community Advice Hubs have been well-attended across the country, with an overarching mission of ensuring owners and their pets stay healthy and safe. The Hubs offer a lifeline and accessible support to people where it’s needed – right in the heart of their community. Over 200 people have attended Hubs across Scotland this year. We have put a focus on prevention in 2025, working towards keeping owners and their animals together.
This year, we also hit a massive milestone of surpassing 1,000 animals who have benefitted from our Pet Aid Vet service. We’re incredibly proud of this achievement and of the team who made it possible, however we know that the hard work doesn’t stop here.
Tackling prolific puppy breeders and dealers
In all, we found new forever homes for 3,913 animals, including some rescued from the most traumatising circumstances. 691 animals were also fostered. From proactively tackling prolific puppy breeders and dealers who are putting profit over welfare to working with Police Scotland, our frontline staff have been operating around the clock to save innocent animals from criminal owners. Our investigations have led to people being banned from owning animals and people being jailed for their crimes towards animals. We play a unique role as an animal welfare charity due to having this power. Some cases where we were particularly pleased with the outcome were:
- Brandon Robert Hodge was sentenced to 12 months supervision, 90 hours of unpaid work and was disqualified from owning or keeping animals for five years after pleading guilty to neglecting 19 birds of prey and owls.
- Kalith Cameron was sentenced to six months in prison for causing unnecessary suffering to a six-year-old American Bulldog, Diesel, and a nine-month-old Bull-type dog, Gucci. He was also disqualified from owning, holding, keeping or looking after any animal for a period of three years.
- John Dysart was given an 11-month custodial sentence, reduced to 10 months, and a lifetime ban on owning any animals after arranging animal fights at locations across the Central Belt in which cats and badgers were torn to death by dogs. He also filmed and distributed videos of the attacks.
Engaging proactively with MSPs and committees
We continue to engage proactively with MSPs and committees as key decisions progress through the Scottish Parliament. We were delighted to see the Greyhound Racing (Offences) (Scotland) Bill progress to Stage 1 and are looking forward to a Scotland without inhumane dog racing. We got to celebrate the passing of the Housing (Scotland) Bill, which was a landmark step meaning nobody in Scotland has to choose between a roof over their head and keeping their pet. The Dog Theft (Scotland) Bill also progressed to Stage 2 and if passed, will make dog theft a specific criminal offence. Stage 3, which is the final stage of the Bill, will begin on December 16.
We couldn’t deliver the vital services and care for Scotland’s animals without our generous animal lovers and organisations from across the country and we would like to say a special thank you to everyone who has taken the time to donate towards improving animals lives all across Scotland, including to each and every player of People’s Postcode Lottery. Since 2022, People’s Postcode Lottery have granted us £1,500,000, of which £650,000 was donated this year. Their support has enabled us to keep our vital work going.
We know that money is tight for everyone, but we appreciate enormously every single pound and every single hour that people volunteer. We are working 24/7 to make Scotland the best place in the world to call home but unfortunately, there are always animals who need our help. As we move into 2026, we’d ask everyone in Scotland to reflect on the lifechanging work we do and consider if they are able to support us in any way.
Second to none
Mark Bishop, CEO of the Scottish SPCA, said: “It’s been a breathless 2025 and we’ve been going flat out to ensure that every animal in Scotland who needs our care gets it. We’ve celebrated so many success stories and it’s been incredibly rewarding for us and the animals we’ve helped.
“The amount of care that we have, and love that we have for animals and their welfare as a charity, is second to none.
“We know that going forward it isn’t going to be easy for us, like many other charities times are tough but we are more motivated than ever to ensure we focus our services where we can make the most impact to ensure pets, wildlife and farmed animals live the lives they deserve.”
To report any act of cruelty, visit our website here.
Puppies across Scotland need your help
Please consider giving a monthly donation today. Give Scotland’s animals the gift of safety this winter and beyond. The criminals involved in the low-welfare puppy trade never stop. And with your help, neither will we. Every £1 matters to puppies like Winnie.
