Scotland’s first minister and the UK prime minister’s spokesperson have been forced to deny there are plans to ban cat ownership in Scotland after media interest in feline welfare proposals prompted outrage from pet lovers.
The concerns were prompted by media coverage of a report for the Scottish government by the independent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission, which published its recommendations on responsible domestic cat ownership last Monday.
Among its proposals, which included encouraging vaccination and neutering, the report also suggested that consideration be given to “containing” cat ownership in certain rural areas that were also home to red-listed bird species. It is estimated that domestic cats kill 27 million birds in the UK each year.
This morphed online into the unfounded claim that the Scottish government was to ban cats completely, which the first minister, John Swinney, was forced to…
