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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of legislating to establish an animal offenders’ register, which could be accessed by the police, animal welfare charities, and pet breeders in England and Wales.

The Government takes the issue of animal welfare very seriously and supports increasing the maximum custodial penalty for animal cruelty offences from six months to five years.

The Police National Computer already records convictions for animal cruelty offences. Certain organisations have access to this information, where appropriate to fulfil their public function. This allows us to securely protect this important information from misuse, and also for it to be available for organisations with a justified need to access this information. If anyone, including animal welfare charities or pet breeders, has concerns about whether someone is keeping animals in contravention of a disqualification order they should report it to the police who can investigate.