Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to help tackle the use of catapults to maim (a) animals and (b) wildlife in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 protects all wild birds and some wild animals in England and Wales. While the Act does not specifically include catapults in the list of weapons that a person must not use to kill wildlife, it is still illegal under this Act to deliberately attempt to kill, injure, or harm protected species. There are a range of other offences found in further legislation to protect animals from cruelty such as the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of crimes under these Acts. Aside from legislation, a national police-led group named Operation Lakeshot is working in partnership with organisations including the RSPCA and Nature Watch to address the catapulting of wildlife, focusing on education, prevention, detection and justice.
The Government takes crimes against animals seriously but there is already sufficient legislation in place which protects them from targeted use of catapults. Defra therefore has no current plans to take further steps to tackle the use of catapults and nor does the Home Office have any plans to change the law to make a catapult a specified prohibited weapon.