Animal Welfare: Sentencing
Commons · Question 4420 · Tabled 29 May 2026 · Ministry of Justice · Official record
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Question
Asked by James Wild
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of the use of custodial sentences for animal cruelty offences since the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 became law.
Answer
Answered by Jake Richards, 8 Jun 2026
When deciding what sentence to impose the courts are required to take into account the circumstances of the offence and the offender, including the culpability of the offender and the harm they caused. In setting a sentence, courts must follow any relevan...