Don't Pet Me - 2025

The scale, scope and motivations for keeping wild animals as 'pets' in Scotland.

This report was written and produced by OneKind, Scottish SPCA and Born Free.

It is based largely on research carried out by Professor Samantha Hurn (University of Exeter) and our own monitoring of online sales and pet shop visits.

Serious welfare concerns around the trade and private keeping of wild animals - ‘exotic pets’ - have been raised for decades. In 2022 the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC) produced a report and recommendations on this issue. So far, the Scottish Government has not responded.

We investigated online and pet shop sales, and commissioned research into the motivations and behaviours of those keeping wild animals. This report outlines our findings.

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