Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill

Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 16th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Randall of Uxbridge, for his introduction to this important Bill, and Chris Loder, who steered it through the other place. It has significant implications for animals and those attempting to ensure their safety and well-being. The whole thrust of the Bill is the length of sentences for cruelty to animals. I am grateful to the RSPCA and Blue Cross for the briefings provided.

It is obvious that current legislation is inadequate, with the maximum sentence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 standing at six months’ imprisonment. This compares to five years in Australia, Canada, India, Latvia, New Zealand and Scotland, and three years in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania. Others have referred to this. England has always prided itself on its animal welfare ethos, so it is surprising that it does not have more stringent punishment for those who abuse and cause pain and distress to animals. We are lagging behind.

This Bill makes a change to increase the maximum penalty from six months to five years and so that it could attract an unlimited fine. However, fines have been imposed in the past, but are not a real deterrent, as they often remain unpaid and cruelty continues unabated. Occasionally, harm will occur to an animal because of ignorance or an unintended accident. It is not these offences that the Bill seeks to address. Its purpose is to prevent unnecessary cruelty by acting as a warning to others. Those who engage in deliberate, calculated and sadistic behaviour towards animals can expect to receive the maximum custodial sentence and a heavy fine, and I fully support this.

Our current legislation also can administer a lifetime ban on keeping animals. These disqualification orders are difficult and time-consuming to administer and not often monitored. It is occasionally the case that someone who has been served with a lifetime ban is back in the courts for a similar offence several years later. Perhaps they hope that no one will notice. It is these persistent offenders for whom the extension of the prison sentence may be most appropriate, but if a disqualification order is imposed, it must be properly monitored, recorded and enforced.

Organised dogfighting is currently illegal, but very large sums of money can change hands at one of these events. Fining is not likely to deter the most hardened of these criminals in their sadistic practices, but a hefty prison sentence will not only curtail their freedom but will also curtail their illegal income, as the noble Lord, Lord Randall, said.

While I am grateful to the RSPCA for a list of the sentences handed down for a variety of animal cruelty offences, I regret that I am reluctant to read those harrowing offences out and I commend those who have managed to do so. I cannot imagine what motivates people to cause such appalling suffering, often on very small defenceless animals, as my noble friend Lady Parminter said. Those who take pleasure in such activities are a serious threat to animals and children and are likely to be perpetrators of domestic violence. The noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, and other noble Lords referred to this. Research and surveys indicate that 70% of the public wish action to be taken to curtail the activities of those inflicting animal cruelty in its worse forms. This Bill allows this that happen.

Often an elderly person will keep a cat. It will be their only companion and friend. The bond between the two will enrich the life of the elderly person, providing them with company and a one-way conversation. We as society have a duty to ensure that that pet is safe from harm from those engaged in mindless violence for fun, often drink and drug-fuelled. A fine is no deterrent, but a custodial sentence is a very different matter.

There is an extensive range of sections in the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which start with causing unnecessary suffering and move through the more serious to mutilation and poisoning. It is vital that this Bill should pass and enter the statute book so that adequate protection can be provided for all animals, whether domestic pets, farm livestock or wild animals. All speakers have wished to see this Bill become a statute. I look forward to the Minister’s response.