Scotland has no plans to ban cats, says leader

LONDON: Scotland is not planning to ban cats, the leader of the devolved government insisted on Monday, after welfare experts gave ministers pause for thought in a new report.

The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) urged ministers to explore introducing containment zones -- within which there would be restrictions on cats -- to protect wildlife in “vulnerable areas”. Such a plan could lead to rules requiring cats to be kept indoors and potentially barring them in “new housing developments in rural areas” near “conservation-sensitive areas”, the commission noted in a new report.

But before any fur could fly, Scottish leader John Swinney said on Monday that his ministers were not poised to impose a ban, or restrictions, on cats. “There’s a report being produced by an external organisation which has come in to the government for consideration,” he said.

“Let me just clear this up today -- the government’s not going to be banning cats or restricting cats. We’ve no intention of doing so and we will not be doing it.” In the report, the experts noted that evidence suggests all cats “can have a significant impact on wildlife populations, through predation and competition for resources with vulnerable wildcat populations”.

“Some countries already require cats to be contained all the time or seasonally to protect wildlife populations,” it said. “This may be an option to reduce the welfare impacts of domestic cats on wildlife.”

The report recommended the Scottish government, which has responsibility for a host of domestic policy areas in Scotland, to instruct its agency NatureScot to produce a report on containment areas.