Scotland’s animal welfare organisations have called on MSPs to support stronger protections for pet owners in the private and social rental sectors ahead of a crucial debate in Holyrood.

Under current law, landlords in Scotland are not legally required to consider tenant requests to keep pets. Proposals in the Housing (Scotland) Bill would require them to review such requests for existing tenants in private and social rental housing, while requests could no longer be unreasonably refused. Tenants would also have the right to challenge decisions through the courts.

It comes as the Scottish Companion Animal Welfare Group, which includes Dogs Trust and PDSA, report a rising number of pet relinquishments caused by a lack of pet-friendly accommodation. This year, 11% of handover requests received by Dogs Trust in Scotland cited accommodation issues as the primary reason for owners needing to relinquish their dog.

Blanket policies

The group wants government proposals to go further by eliminating blanket ‘no-pet’ policies and is urging landlords to assess pet ownership requests on a case-by-case basis. Earlier this month, the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee published a report supporting the principle that tenants should have a statutory right to request permission to keep a pet.

Claire Wilson-Leary (pictured), public affairs manager at Dogs Trust, says while these proposals address the needs of current tenants, they don’t tackle the overall shortage of pet-friendly housing.

“We would urge the Scottish government to work with the private and social rental sectors to increase confidence in renting to pet owners so that they are not disadvantaged when seeking to access suitable accommodation,” she adds.

Research conducted by Dogs Trust and Cats Protection revealed that Scottish landlords are currently split on whether they currently allow pets, with 48% saying they do. However, only 28% of Scottish tenants say their landlord would allow a dog in the property.