Shetland Times Column 31st January 2025
The Welfare of Dogs (Scotland) Bill was passed in the Scottish Parliament last week.
Legislation will see a new code of practice drawn up about the acquisition of a dog to promote responsible dog ownership and to ensure the commitment required to caring for a dog is understood. It should also reduce the supply from low welfare sources like puppy farms.
Potential owners will be asked under the code to consider whether their situation is suited to owning a dog and whether they will be able to provide for the dog’s needs throughout its life. The code also seeks to make considered purchases from reputable breeders the norm, resulting in fewer dogs suffering in the low-welfare trade.
Buying a puppy from the back of a car in a supermarket car park without seeing the conditions it and its mother are housed in is not a responsible and informed approach. It can also lead to unsuspecting owners buying a puppy that will need a lot of support from vets.
Last week also saw the second of two debates about the UK Government’s decision not to compensate 1950s women following the report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).
The Ombudsman is independent of government and investigated the Department for Work and Pensions’ failure to provide adequate notification to the many women who have campaigned for the last ten years under the WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) banner. It ruled that there had been maladministration and that a mechanism for providing appropriate remedy be identified, recommending financial compensation to the women affected.
Having accepted the Ombudsman’s ruling the UK Government has decided not to pay compensation, citing the financial mess left behind by the previous Government and that it would cost the country too much. The House of Commons Leader has said that “… an apology was issued, but we did not feel that the compensation being proposed was proportionate or would be a fair use of public funds at this time.”
The state of government finances is not the fault of the WASPI women and they should not have to wait for this injustice to be properly addressed.
Speaking in the chamber, I said that there is an air of misogyny that reaches back to the beginning of this matter. The decision by today’s Labour Government suggests that continues. Misogyny is also demonstrated in the comments on social media, mostly from men, about this issue. But if anyone thinks that 1950s women will be silenced they are wrong.
Online misogyny is the subject of a safer internet day webinar which Shetland Women’s Aid is running on 11th February. It intends to “delve into the online ‘manosphere’ and how it can affect young people in Shetland”. The promotion of misogyny online is worrying and the webinar is a good opportunity to find out what we can do to protect young people from platforms and influencers. I hope it is well attended.