Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill

Lord Randall of Uxbridge Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 16th April 2021 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. I am delighted to be able to sponsor this Bill as it passes through your Lordships’ House. I pay tribute to my honourable friend in the other place, Chris Loder, who has successfully steered the Bill through all its stages there—no easy task.

The Bill realises an important commitment from the Government on animal welfare, assists the courts in their essential work and helps to keep this country at the forefront of the care and protection of animals. I also mention Anna Turley, who is no longer an MP but introduced an earlier version of this Bill during her time in the other place.

Every animal deserves to live a dignified life and we should act conscientiously, while acknowledging that this is an emotive subject, to ensure that this is the case. We have an obligation to provide for the welfare needs of animals we have control over, which should be safe in our care, whether they be as pets or farm animals or in other captive environments.

Like many Members in the other place and in your Lordships’ House, we have pets that have been a constant companion to us, particularly in these rather testing Covid times. My own rescue hound was provided by a local gentleman, Roger Warren, who rescued our saluki/whippet cross as a puppy in a pitiful condition and nursed her back to health. Anyone seeing her today would not realise her terrible past. Mr Warren, who has rescued many dogs and many other animals, told me about the incredible cruelty that he has seen, including greyhounds that have had their paws smashed with a hammer.

Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences is six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The Bill would increase the maximum sentence for those convicted of the worst animal cruelty offences in England and Wales from six months to five years. It is a straightforward but much-needed measure that would ensure that those who harm an animal by, for example, causing unnecessary suffering, mutilation or poisoning face the full force of the law. That would include cases of systematic cruelty such as the deliberate, premeditated and sadistic behaviour of ruthless individuals and gangs who use dogfighting to fuel organised crime. The Bill would mean that English and Welsh courts had sentences at their disposal commensurate to the most serious cases so that the punishment could fit the crime. That would send a clear signal that there is no place for animal cruelty in this country.

My association with the Bill began when I was a special adviser to the then Prime Minister, Theresa May. I convened and chaired a round table on the subject, hearing the views of a coalition of animal welfare organisations such as the League Against Cruel Sports; the RSPCA; Battersea Dogs and Cats; the Humane Society International; Compassion in World Farming; IFAW; Cats Protection; Dogs Trust; A-Law, the UK Centre for UK Law; Blue Cross; and World Horse Welfare. I commend their effectiveness in supporting the Bill and the increased maximum penalties that it would provide. I particularly thank Andy Knott, the CEO of the League Against Cruel Sports, for his constructive and pragmatic approach to the Bill and for undertaking a lot of the heavy lifting with coalition members.

I want to recognise the many individual members of the public who collectively fill our postbags and sign e-petitions each year concerning animal welfare issues. I particularly want to mention the pupils of Redhill Preparatory School in Haverfordwest, who recently wrote many individual letters to me. Their deputy head teacher, Vicky Brown, should be congratulated on getting her pupils involved in the democratic process.

The legal and moral imperative that this important Bill addresses and the support it has already received are why I regard it as a privilege to be able to sponsor its passage through this House. The Bill would amend Section 32 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which currently sets out a maximum penalty of six months’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine for the more serious “prevention of harm” offences.

The current sentence is much lower than the European average for animal welfare offences, which is two years, and many countries have much higher maximum penalties. Northern Ireland has a maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences of five years’ imprisonment, set in August 2016, and the Scottish Parliament passed a Bill in June 2020 to implement a five-year penalty within Scotland. I am pleased to say that this Bill would ensure that England and Wales also had one of the toughest punishments in the world, bringing us into line with the penalties available in other countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India and Latvia, which all have a maximum of five years’ imprisonment.

There have been several cases where very serious cruelty had been inflicted on animals and, in sentencing, the judges were clear that they would have imposed a higher penalty or a custodial sentence had the Animal Welfare Act made provision for that. A man was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to his cat. He committed several appalling acts including burning the cat, attempting to flush her down the toilet, attempting to strangle her and throwing her against a wall. He was sentenced to 18 weeks’ custody suspended for two years, banned from keeping pets for 10 years and ordered to pay £440 in costs. In another example a man deliberately set his dog on a pet cat, which was mauled to death. He was jailed for 18 weeks after admitting causing cruelty and banned from keeping animals for life. The comments of the judiciary in these examples are telling. In the first case the magistrate said that the offender was “extremely dangerous” and that she would have liked to have put him in prison for as long as she could. In the second case the chairman of the Bench said when passing sentence that

“we would if we were actually permitted to do so have imposed a far greater custodial sentence.”

Aside from the cases tried in our courts every year, animal welfare organisations complete important work in rescuing and rehoming animals. In many cases those animals have arrived at their door because the owners have suffered a change in circumstances, but others have been rescued from the most appalling acts of violence. Some of the animals that welfare organisations receive must then be nursed back to health over lengthy periods. Providing that care costs rehoming centres, often established on a not-for-profit basis, many thousands of pounds in veterinary bills. We need to strongly discourage people from committing such acts in the first place.

The Animal Welfare Act is very effective legislation under which some 800 people are successfully prosecuted every year for animal cruelty. In that respect the Act is serving our animals well but, as with any law, we need to revise it when there are improvements to be made, and that includes revising its penalties. As a result, and to address the previously mentioned issues of dogfighting, comments from the judiciary and the cost to animal welfare organisations, I and many others, including the Government, believe it is high time that animals were offered more robust protections. Offenders should face tougher sentences for causing harm to animals.

I know that many noble Lords have spoken up for animal welfare over the years, and I am sure they will do so again. I hope that with their assistance we can see this Bill reach the statute book and provide the protection that animals in our care or under our control deserve. This will secure an improvement not just to animal welfare but to society through a reduction in the instances of animal cruelty and criminality.

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill is a simple one amounting to just two clauses. Clause 1 is the focus of the Bill. It outlines the mode of trial and maximum penalty for certain animal welfare offences. As I have previously outlined, under the Animal Welfare Act the maximum penalty is currently six months and/or an unlimited fine. Clause 1 would change the maximum custodial sentence available for the five key offences defined as “prevention of harm”. Under Clause 1 the existing maximum penalty of six months would still apply in cases where offenders were summarily convicted. However, where offenders were convicted at a trial heard at the Crown Court, they might now receive a higher penalty of up to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.

Clause 2 provides for the Bill to extend to England and Wales, arrangements for its commencement and the Short Title. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter but in the case of this Bill the Welsh Government have confirmed that the new maximum penalty should also apply in Wales, and the Bill is drafted on that basis. The Bill is set to come into force after two months if it receives Royal Assent. The revised maximum penalties are not retrospective so would not apply to offences committed before the Bill came into force.

The public care passionately about the welfare of animals. Making sure that the way in which we treat animals reflects who we are as a nation is a priority for the people, illustrated by the great lengths to which they go in petitioning the Government on the subject. The Bill would be a significant step towards ensuring that our courts had the appropriate tools to respond to those who inflict deliberate suffering on innocent animals.

The current maximum penalty is too low and has been so for too long. Increasing it would be a relatively simple step that would align England and Wales with Scotland and Northern Ireland. While we are a world leader on many animal welfare issues, it is important to implement this measure, which would put our sentencing regime on a par with other leading nations. The Bill would let animal abusers know that they could not escape serious penalties where serious acts of animal cruelty were committed. For those who undertake illegal activities such as organised dogfighting and systematic cruelty towards animals, it is only right that sentences be in years rather than months.

To sum up, the Bill is of great importance to the House, to the animal welfare community and to the public. We need to increase the maximum penalty so that it offers appropriate custodial sentences and provides a strong deterrent in line with the maximum penalties for other criminal offences. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I take this opportunity to thank all noble Lords for their considered and important contributions. I sincerely thank the Minister for confirming the Government’s continued support for the Bill. I look forward to guiding it, I hope, through its remaining stages. Lastly, I extend my thanks to all those many outside the House who have supported the Bill, and the many charities and other organisations which have proven to be long-standing and tireless advocates for animals. I mentioned many of them in my earlier remarks but would like to mention, too, Lorraine Platt of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation. I also sincerely thank my noble friend Lord Shrewsbury. He also put his name forward as a potential sponsor for the Bill but graciously deferred to me. I am only a very junior Member of your Lordships’ House so it is a great privilege to do this. I commend their effectiveness in supporting this Bill and the increased maximum penalties it will provide.

I recognise the many individual members of the public who collectively fill postbags and sign e-petitions each year concerning animal welfare issues. These supporters of animal welfare ensure that discussion is kept current and moving, and that parliamentarians are kept abreast of emerging issues so that they can be raised with the Government. Many of these individuals have been calling for an increase in the maximum penalty for animal cruelty for several years. They will no doubt watch the Bill’s progress keenly.

I also thank the officials in Defra and the Government Whips’ Office who have helped me with details of procedure. Once again, in expressing my gratitude to all noble Lords who have taken part today, and particularly my noble friend the Minister, I sincerely hope that the House will give the Bill a Second Reading this afternoon.

Bill read a second time and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.