Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of recent trends in the use of catapults against wild and domestic animals.

This Government takes crimes against wildlife seriously and is aware of the misuse of catapults against wild animals and domestic pets which is causing great concern to some local communities.

Sufficient laws are already in place to protect animals against the targeted use of catapults. However, the 2025 Animal Welfare Strategy commits the Government to reviewing and looking to strengthen penalties for cruelty to wildlife so they are consistent with higher levels of sentencing available for offences against pets and livestock. Incidents involving catapults that cause unnecessary suffering to wild animals would be in scope of any strengthened penalties.