Dog Theft (Scotland) Act 2026

1 Dog theft

(1) A person (A) commits the offence of dog theft if they—

(a) take a dog so as to remove it from the lawful control of any person, or

(b) keep a dog so as to keep it from the lawful control of any person who is entitled to have lawful control of it.

(2) The offence of dog theft is not committed if—

(a) at any time before the taking or keeping of the dog, the following lived together in the same household—

(i) the person (A) who took or kept the dog,

(ii) a person (B) from whose lawful control it was taken or kept, and

(iii) the dog,

(b) A and B had been living together before the dog began to live with them,

(c) A and B subsequently ceased to live together, and

(d) A took or kept the dog at or after the time when A and B ceased to live together.

(3) It is a defence for a person charged with the offence of dog theft to show that the person had lawful authority or a reasonable excuse for taking or keeping the dog.

(4) It is a defence for a person charged with the offence of dog theft by virtue of subsection (1)(b) to show that the person—

(a) believed that the dog was stray, lost or abandoned,

(b) took all reasonable steps to comply with section 150(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (delivery of stray dogs to owner or officer of local authority), and

(c) did not keep the dog for more than 96 hours (disregarding any period during which it is kept by virtue of section 150(2)(a) of that Act).

(5) A person is taken to have shown a fact mentioned in subsection (3) or (4) if—

(a) sufficient evidence of the fact is adduced to raise an issue with respect to it, and

(b) the contrary is not proved beyond reasonable doubt.

(6) A person who commits the offence of dog theft is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to a fine not exceeding the prescribed sum (or both),

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to a fine (or both).

(7) In subsection (6), the “prescribed sum” has the meaning given by section 225(8) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995.

(8) In this section—

(a) references to a person taking a dog include the person—

(i) causing or inducing the dog to accompany the person or anyone else, or

(ii) causing the dog to be taken,

(b) references to a person keeping a dog include the person—

(i) causing or inducing the dog to remain with the person or anyone else, or

(ii) causing the dog to be kept.