Support is growing across Scotland for an Angus animal campaigner’s plan to demand legislation be brought in to apply tougher controls on the breeding of Staffordshire bull terriers.
Ian Robb has witnessed the scale of the Staffie crisis through his role as a leading figure in Angus Help for Abandoned Animals, but research into the wider extent of the problem has revealed an alarming national picture.
Mr Robb is aiming to take the issue to the Scottish petitions committee once the new parliament reconvenes after the election, and on the strength of early backing for the campaign he will go armed with support from animal welfare groups across the country.
“We need to find a solution to the overbreeding and abandonment of the Staffordshire bull terrier because this breed is at the centre of a crisis which is already heading out of control,” he said.
A trawl of animal charities from across Scotland has revealed the shocking rate at which the breed is being dumped by a population of so-called dog lovers. Six out of every 10 dogs which find their way to HfAA in Scotland are Staffies but the figure is as high as 80% for some organisations.
“I spoke to organisations throughout Scotland and the figures are really horrifying,” said Mr Robb. “The people in other welfare organisations who I talked to are of the same belief as myself, and that is that criminals and drug addicts have ruined this breed’s reputation. They are the ones responsible for the overbreeding and the massive rise in abandonments.
“South of the border there are Staffies being put to sleep in their hundreds because of the scale of the problem and if we do not do something in Scotland then we could be facing the same thing. These dogs are being bred to be put on death row and I cannot stand by and watch that happen, which is why I am so determined to gather support for this petition and take it to the politicians.
“The situation is out of control in England and we can’t do anything about that, but we can try to convince the politicians to look seriously at it here and try to come up with something which will help control the breeding of these dogs.
“That may involve microchipping, which would at least give a database so that they are registered. But the first thing we must try to do is get the politicians to recognise the scale of this problem.”