Tougher sentences will be imposed on people who mistreat animals under revised guidelines unveiled by the Sentencing Council today. 

Guidelines for animal cruelty offences, last updated in 2017, were revised to reflect changes introduced by the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. The act increased the maximum penalty for unnecessary suffering, docking the tail of a dog, administering poison to an animal, and involvement in an animal fight from six months to five years’ custody. 

The council received more than 100 responses to its consultation on proposals.

On sentence levels, the council said in its response document that it recognised the need to convey the seriousness of animal cruelty and take account of the will of parliament in raising the statutory maximum. ‘However, there is also a need to maintain proportionality with assault offences committed against human victims, and to keep animal cruelty distinct from this.’

Sentences for the most serious offences will go up a further six months from what was originally proposed by the council in its consultation. The starting point for cases of category 1 harm and high culpability will be a two-year custodial sentence. The top of the category range for these offences will be three years and six months in prison.

‘The council does not believe it is feasible to raise sentence levels any further without risking animal cruelty offences being treated as equivalent to violent offences or those involving injury to human victims, such as an assault involving a weapon or resulting in serious physical injury,’ the council said in its response document.

A guideline on failure to ensure animal welfare was also published today, applying to offences under section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. ‘Involvement of others through coercion, intimidation or exploitation’ has been added as a high culpability factor. ‘Motivated by financial gain’ is a new aggravating factor.

The new guidelines come into force in July.

 

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