One person a week given animal ban

Mar 11 2013

An average of one person a week was banned from keeping animals last year, according to figures from the Scottish SPCA.

The animal welfare charity said a total of 55 owners received banning orders in 2012 - 11 of which were for life.

A further 62 people were given fines and one person was handed a prison sentence.

The Scottish SPCA said calls to its helpline have shot up by 55% in the last four years, from 126,000 in 2008 to over 195,000 in 2012.

It said the level of cruelty to animals in Scotland was "shameful" and highlighted some of the investigations it has dealt with.

In February last year, the charity cared for and re-homed two kittens that were put in black bin bags and thrown off a bridge.

Maureen Mountain, from Hawick in the Borders, pleaded guilty to abandoning the kittens and causing them unnecessary suffering. She was banned from keeping animals for five years.

John McGowan, from Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, was jailed for three months and banned from keeping dogs for three years after leaving his Alaskan malamute named Balto alone for two days. Balto was found covered in faeces and urine and with no water available, the charity said.

The Scottish SPCA said Maqsood Asghar was banned from owning animals for life when he was caught keeping 39 pets, including two dogs, a cat, four rabbits, two doves and 12 rats in "cramped and squalid" conditions at his flat in Edinburgh in June.

Richard Bunker, from Dumfries, was given an eight-year ban, also in June, for letting his dog Jess fall below less than half her ideal weight. The emaciated collie-cross has since found a new home.