Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-12-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will review the adequacy of the maximum sentences available to the courts for offences of cruelty to animals under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

George Eustice

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause an animal unnecessary suffering. Anyone found guilty of an offence under the Act can be subject to an unlimited fine and/or six months’ imprisonment.

It is for the courts to decide on an appropriate penalty based on the individual circumstances of each case. To help magistrates to impose appropriate sentences and penalties they are provided with guidance in the form of the Magistrates’ Courts Sentencing Guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council. The guidelines give examples of offences, aggravating and mitigating factors, as well as the range of suggested sentences and penalties for various types of offences. The sentences currently imposed for such offences are not regularly set towards the upper end of the range. This suggests that courts are not finding their current sentencing powers inadequate.

Nevertheless, Defra understands the concern that existing levels of punishment may be insufficient in some cases. Overall policy on sentencing is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Defra Ministers have made sure that the MoJ is aware of these concerns.