Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether attacks on police dogs will no longer be classed as damage to property and be treated as an aggravated attack on a sentient being; and if she will make a statement.

This Government is clear that an attack on a police animal is a very serious offence and while severe penalties are already in place to punish those who commit such crimes I am exploring with Ministerial colleagues and police leaders whether there is more that the law should do to offer the most appropriate protections to police and all other working animals.

I am also pleased to see that Sentencing Guidelines were updated 24 January 2017 and now include a new aggravating factor of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal being used in public service or as an assistance dog under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.