Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the use of pets by perpetrators as tools to coerce and control victims of domestic abuse.

Domestic abuse can encompass a wide range of behaviours and can affect all parts of a victim’s life and relationships, including those with pets.

The Domestic Abuse Bill will help to better protect and support the victims of all forms of domestic abuse, including coercive control, and help bring perpetrators to justice.

We have published draft statutory guidance to accompany the legislation and to provide explanation of the different characteristics of domestic abuse, which includes reference to how pets may be used by perpetrators.