The chief executive of Scottish animal charity the SSPCA has defended himself this morning following criticism of his pay packet.

Stuart Earley received a basic salary of £185,000 last year and has faced further criticism today after revelations that his wife's company was paid £12,000 by the charity for looking after injured horses.

The figure is the highest of any charity chief executive in Scotland and higher than the leader of the RSPCA.

Earley described coverage of his pay as 'frustrating' and said the charity now looks after more than twice as many animals as when he took over.

Asked about comparisons with others in the sector he said: "I haven't looked - I don't know what everyone else is being paid. Some people think all charities should be run by people who don't earn anything." 

Chief executive of SCVO, Martin Sime, told Civil Society News it was “important for charities to have a policy to determine their approach to staff pay”.

“We encourage charities to be completely transparent about what they pay senior staff, so they can be answerable about it,” he said.

But he also urged critics to consider that the “level of pay should reflect the requirements of the job”.

“As in any other sector, there are a lot of considerations to setting senior salaries in charities,” he said. “The leaders of Scotland’s largest charities manage average annual budgets of tens of millions of pounds and thousands of staff.”

A report by the Scotsman earlier this month dubbed the Scottish charity a “disgrace” for awarding its chief executive a pay rise of more than a third over three years, while implementing cuts at the charity.

And this morning the Daily Record revealed a shelter owned by his wife rescued and gave medical attention to seven animals at a cost of £12,000 to the Scottish SPCA over a three year period, between 2009 and 2011.

But a spokesman for the charity said “the SSPCA and Paddock View acted in the interests of the animals and with the full awareness and consent of the board”.