Greyhound Action Scotland
Two East Lothian girls, Finleigh and Kalya Wells from Haddington, spoke out about animal welfare at the SNP’s annual conference.
The girls are long term members of Greyhound Action Scotland, a campaign to highlight the plight of racing greyhounds in Scotland. The girls have been campaigners within the group, which has the ultimate aim of banning commercial greyhound racing in Scotland, for 7 years.
At a Fringe event entitled The Missing Link hosted by Advocates for Animals, the two sisters were interviewed by Christine Grahame MSP about why animal welfare is important to the voters of tomorrow.
To coincide with the event Advocates for Animals has released the findings of new independent opinion polls showing the importance of animal welfare to people in Scotland. The polls reveal that:
1) The majority (55%) of people in Scotland would be more likely to vote for a party that had a clear commitment to act to improve the welfare of animals in Scotland
2) 94% of people in Scotland think it is important for animal welfare to be one of the things young people in Scotland learn about at school
3)Public support for a ban on snares in Scotland has grown to a massive 79%
Looking forward to the Fringe event later today, Finleigh Wells, aged 15 and a former Knox Academy pupil, said:
“I want Scotland to be known as a country where animal cruelty does not happen; where there is no factory farming and no breeding of puppies for profit, where wildlife is safe, where animals like baby seals are not killed needlessly or because they get in the way of business.”
Finleigh’s younger sister, Kalya Wells, aged 11, who is currently a pupil at Kings Meadow Primary School in Haddington, added:
“All sorts of horrible things happen to animals. It upsets me and I want things to change.
One of our rescued greyhounds was given drugs to make him race faster and another couldn't even race because he'd been treated so badly and was scared of men. “
Advocates for Animals’ Political Director, Libby Anderson, added:
“We are delighted that Finleigh and Kalya wanted to join us at the SNP conference to tell the party why animal welfare is important to them. They set a great example of the kind of compassionate young people we should be encouraging in our society. We are sure that members of the SNP were interested to hear what the girls have to say and hope that their presence will encourage the party to do more for animals in Scotland.”
