Animal Cruelty and Domestic Abuse

Danny Chambers Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir John Hayes]

Both those points are salient, as is the fear that people have of leaving the relationship because of what might happen to the animals. This is used as a means of control, but the animals and the individuals concerned—the people, the owners—become frightened, and in the end the animals become neglected, as the hon. Lady has described, so there is a series of correlations. I know the Government are aware of this, and I shall say why in a second, but now is the time for action.

We know that an early warning sign of an abusive partner is the way that they treat pets, as it is one of the questions asked in the domestic abuse, stalking and harassment risk assessment—the DASH—that is routinely used by the police across the UK to determine a victim’s risk. Research undertaken by Refuge4Pets, which works with Dogs Trust, found that almost nine in 10 households who experienced domestic abuse have said that their animals were abused first. In 49% of those cases, animals were killed by the abuser. It is not just neglect or cruelty—it is the death of animals, alongside the death of people.

A study by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Northeastern University found that animal abusers are five times as likely to also harm other humans. Some 70% of people who committed animal abuse also had criminal records that included crimes of violence, property, drugs or disorderly behaviour. In 88% of households experiencing domestic abuse, the perpetrator also abused animals. Some 97% of domestic abuse professionals encountered cases of pets being harmed as coercion.

In 49% of those cases, the animals died, as they did in the case of Holly’s pets. So the correlation between animal abuse and domestic abuse is crystal clear.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

I pay tribute to Holly’s mum, Annette, and the right hon. Member for the relentless campaigning they have done to promote Holly’s law. That is hugely important, and they have not given up on it. With all those stats about the link between the abuse of humans and the abuse of animals, we are talking about how we can protect women and children from avoidable abuse, but many abusers start as children. We saw that in the case of Holly’s partner, and we saw it recently in the case of Russell Brand, who as a child was kicking his dog down the stairs. There must be a way of recording and escalating such incidents. Many children who abuse animals are receiving abuse themselves, and when they grow up they are significantly more likely to harm humans. There must be a way of intervening early to prevent these children, who are often victims of abuse, from going on to cause abuse.

[Sir John Hayes]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support for the campaign, which has been notable; I thank him. This is about threat and risk. Where threat becomes apparent, risk can be mitigated. My right hon. Friend the Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) and I spend a lot of our lives talking about threat and risk in respect of national security, and we have studied those matters closely over a long time. It is absolutely true that the early identification of the kind of risks that the hon. Gentleman describes can prevent their escalation. That is essentially what we are calling on the Government to do.

The Government want to do more on domestic abuse, and they have said that—I shall say a little more about that in a moment or two. The correlation, as I have described it, is clear; we now need to decide what we are going to do about it. We can speak endlessly about the cases, which do not amount just to this particular case, tragic though it is and personal though it is to me and my constituent. Annette wants to protect other people. That is her mission—to prevent this happening to another mother, another family, another victim.

The problem is that animal cruelty is regarded as an animal welfare matter, quite separate from human safeguarding. This is the challenge for the Government. It is clear that there is a gap in the way that the Government treat these serious problems, though they recognise that both are just that—serious. Earlier this year, Annette and I met the then Minister for safeguarding, the hon. Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips), to make the case for a potential animal abuse register. I put on the record how well the hon. Member responded to my request for the meeting and how she conducted that meeting. She made my constituent feel valued, listened carefully to what we both said, and committed to Home Office work, which, again, I shall say a little more about in a few moments.