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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase penalties for crimes against wildlife so that they are in line with sentences for other animal welfare offences.

Defra has no current plans to increase the penalties for committing crimes against wildlife.

Wildlife crime is unacceptable, and significant sanctions are already available for judges to hand down to those convicted of such crimes. Anyone who commits an offence under existing legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 could face up to a six-month custodial sentence and/or an unlimited fine.

In addition, while the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 generally protects animals that are commonly domesticated, it can extend to wildlife as it prohibits causing unnecessary suffering to wild animals under human control, for example when they are held in a hand or caught live in a trap. Under this Act the maximum sentence for animal cruelty is five years, which is equal to the highest penalty in the world for such crimes. This sends a clear signal to any future potential offenders that animal cruelty will not be tolerated