THE Scottish SPCA has called for snares and shock collars to be banned as it releases its manifesto ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

A Better Scotland for Animals features a series of calls to action which would improve the welfare of pets, wildlife and farm animals.

Scotland’s animal welfare charity is urging candidates to improve wildlife protections, provide more support to people and pets in need, explore the potential of a national animal welfare register for cruelty offender and more.

A survey of 2813 people carried out by ScotPulse on behalf of the Scottish SPCA shows the majority of Scots support every single item in the charity’s manifesto.

Mike Flynn, chief superintendent of the Scottish SPCA, said: “The overwhelming majority of Scots are animal lovers and that’s evidenced by the results of our survey, which shows many of them want to see their candidates support the items in our manifesto.

“Animal welfare transcends political views and in the run-up to the election we will be campaigning hard to get cross-party backing for our manifesto. It’s time to do better for animals.”

One of the Scottish SPCA’s calls is for a national register for people who are convicted for being cruel to animals, an initiative supported by 97% of Scots.

The charity has re-stated its stance that snares should be totally outlawed after dealing with 67 incidents involving pets and wildlife since 2019.

They also found support for a ban on dogs’ shock collars stands at 83%.

As well as that, the Scottish SPCA wants to see progress made by the Fireworks Review Group. A report has recommended tighter restrictions and the charity wants to see the next Parliament enact these.