SCOTLAND’s animal welfare charity is urging people across the country to share their memories, pictures and stories as it prepares to celebrate its 180th birthday.

The Scottish SPCA was founded on December 18, 1839 in Edinburgh and later this year will launch a series of celebrations running throughout next year to mark the anniversary.

Its original goal was to help overworked horses and ponies in Leith, and has grown to champion the wellbeing of all animals across Scotland.

By the early 1900s, it had expanded to cover more than 50 counties in Scotland, and worked closely with its counterparts in Aberdeen, Glasgow and the West of Scotland. It now has nine animal rescue and rehoming centres across the country and a world-leading wildlife hospital in Clackmannanshire.

Last year, it rehomed more than 5000 domestic pets and successfully released 5642 wild animals back into their natural environment. The society also delivers industry-leading animal welfare educational programmes to people of all ages, and reached more than 250,000 children last year.

Chief executive, Kirsteen Campbell, said: “Over the best part of two centuries, which equates to over 700 dog years, the society has built an incredibly rich history and we can only do our celebrations justice with the input of the Scottish public who have funded our work since day one.

“As well as those who have had a positive experience with us in the recent past, we are hoping to uncover some long lost tales from descendants of those we’ve touched in decades gone by.”