Scots Conservative Euro MP and longtime animal welfare campaigner Struan Stevenson yesterday lent his support to a campaign calling for the immediate end to the torture and mistreatment of greyhounds in Europe.
In the hope of drawing attention to one of the continent’s hidden shames, Struan signed a parliamentary Written Declaration which highlights the continuing mistreatment of greyhounds deemed unsuitable for racing or hunting and calls upon the European Commission “to do everything within its power to ensure that the European Union’s animal welfare legislation is implemented correctly and to recommend concrete actions to bring about an immediate stop to the acts of cruelty inflicted on greyhounds in Europe.”
The Euro MP has previously led a successful 10 year campaign to introduce an EU-wide ban on the import, export and trade in cat and dog fur, which is estimated to have saved the lives of over two million dogs a year in China alone after coming into effect in 2009. He has also tirelessly fought to raise awareness of the effect of wind turbines upon bird populations in Scotland and has drawn attention to the surge of dog cruelty cases in Greece since the beginning of their budget crisis.
Speaking yesterday from Brussels, Struan said:
“Having made animal welfare issues a top priority during my time in the European Parliament, I was keen to support this Written Declaration. It is totally unacceptable that greyhounds are perceived as somehow expendable once they’ve outlived their recreational usefulness and that they continue to be cruelly mistreated right under the noses of Member States.
“It is clear that European legislation in this area needs to be better articulated and enforced so that Member States properly control the greyhound trade in Europe. We must do everything we can to ensure that those implicated in the torture or mistreatment of these beautiful animals face proper penalties in order to bring an immediate stop to these abhorrent practices.”
