Scottish SPCA welcomes country's environment minister to Forth Valley rescue centre
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The animal welfare charity recently welcomed Màiri McAllan MSP to the Clackmannanshire facility, which opened in 2007 and cares for 10,000 wild animals every year.
Kirsteen Campbell, Scottish SPCA chief executive, said, “We were delighted to welcome Ms McAllan to our National Wildlife Rescue Centre.
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Hide Ad"The climate emergency is already having an impact on animals in Scotland with the colder winters and warmer summers affecting mating and birthing seasons.
"We know this will become a bigger issue in the years to come.”She added: “Scotland needs to create and maintain eco-diversity to preserve and stop the decline of species, such as the white tailed and golden eagles.
“We are also looking forward to progressing further protections for wild animals through contributing to the wildlife enforcement taskforce and doing more to protect wild animals from harm.
"We have great expertise in the Society and work on an almost daily basis with Police Scotland, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and other key stakeholders to tackle crimes against wildlife. The Society is dedicated to stopping these abhorrent crimes and we eagerly anticipate the findings of the group.
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Hide Ad“We were thrilled to be able to inform Ms McAllan of our environmental ambitions and it was fantastic to hear how of her passion for sustaining ecosystems across Scotland.”
In 2020, the Society welcomed the introduction of the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 which outlined changes including increased maximum penalties for the most serious animal welfare offences to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
Ms McAllan said: “Scotland’s wildlife is so precious and the dedicated Scottish SPCA staff do an exceptional job in rescuing and rehabilitating animals that get into difficulty. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for that.
"The Scottish Government is committed to protecting Scotland’s wild species and to tackling crime against wildlife. And we’re taking decisive action to do just that. The Animals and Wildlife Act, which became law last year, has increased penalties for serious crimes of animal cruelty but also provided innovative new powers that will allow animal welfare enforcement agencies, like the Scottish SPCA, to quickly rehome animals in their care.”