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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions were made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the last year for which complete records are available; and who instigated those prosecutions.

1,894 defendants were proceeded against at magistrates’ courts in England and Wales for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in 2013 (latest available).

The Ministry of Justice court proceedings database cannot separately identify whether or not a prosecution is brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, or by a private authority. This information may be held by the relevant courts in England and Wales, and can only be discerned at disproportionate cost.