Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on reducing pet theft.
The Government’s Pet Theft Taskforce was set up by Defra, Ministry of Justice and Home Office Ministers to gather evidence around the concerns about a perceived increase in pet theft during lockdown and to recommend measures to tackle the problem. The Pet Theft Taskforce published its report on 03 September 2021 and made a number of recommendations including the introduction of a new pet abduction offence, which has been added to the Kept Animals Bill. The full report is available at Pet theft taskforce report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The three departments are continuing to work together to implement the recommendations from the report and to tackle the issue of pet theft from all angles.