'Woefully inadequate' sentences for animal abusers only serves to protect offenders, says Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust urges the Government to take further action to increase the maximum sentence for animal cruelty to 5 years.
Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, was born out of a mission to bring about the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction. Whilst every year we take steps towards accomplishing our mission, we continue to be shocked by the acts of cruelty that are being inflicted on dogs across the UK.
We feel strongly that the woefully inadequate penalties available for cruelty cases for conviction under the Animal Welfare Act only serve to protect those capable of such horrific crimes. This includes the two men in Redcar, who yesterday, because they pled guilty to the atrocious crime of putting a nail through poor Scamp the dog’s head and burying him alive, they were only able to receive a maximum sentence of just four months in prison. This sentence is completely inappropriate for the level of cruelty inflicted on this helpless dog.
Our sincere thanks go to Anna Turley MP for helping to achieve huge public attention for the shameful penalties we currently have. We were disappointed her recent private member’s bill didn’t reach second reading last Friday, but that won’t stop our mission.
To give some context to our concerns, a person who injures or kills a dog can only be given a maximum custodial sentence of six months under the Animal Welfare Act. In comparison, recent changes to the Dangerous Dogs legislation mean that the owner of a dog that injures or kills an assistance dog can, quite rightly, be given a maximum custodial sentence of three years. This discrepancy in the penalties available highlights the urgent need for Government to review animal cruelty sentences and introduce punishments that reflect the seriousness of these offences that are sadly carried out on a daily basis.
Last year Dogs Trust responded to the Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Guidelines consultation which included a new draft guideline for animal cruelty offences. This updated guideline will shortly replace the current version which has been in use since 2008. While we agree the proposed changes are important to help ensure realistic sentences are passed, we strongly believe more needs to be done to ensure that animal cruelty convictions are a significant deterrent.
Statistics show that of the 775 people who had proceedings brought against them in 2015 for committing an offence under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act – a crime of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, the worst offence possible – 612 were found guilty, yet only 55 were handed an immediate prison sentence. These figures beg the question, if so many people are found to be causing such horrendous suffering, but are not being punished, what does that say about how our society really views animals, including man’s best friend?
Dogs Trust believes we are a nation of animal lovers and so we will continue to urge Government to take action to protect all animals by making changes that will allow the most serious cases of cruelty to be heard in the Crown Court and receive a sentence of up to five years imprisonment. We hope we can rely on MPs and Peers to support our call to government. We encourage you to write to the government to show that not doing anything is not an option.
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