Parliament to debate reclassification of pet theft

[JoanneF]

As it stands, the law classifies the theft of a pet as the same as the theft of a tv or other possession. This obviously takes no account of the emotional distress at the loss of a pet - completely different from the loss of an inanimate object. Also, sentencing (if the perpetrator is even caught) is pitifully low.

A petition to classify pet theft as a specific and separate crime has just received enough signatures to be debated in parliament.

 

[Josie]

That’s great to hear!

All the sentencing related to animals is too low

I watched a program about the RSPCA raiding a puppy selling group.
They said it was organised just like it was drugs - they had different phones for different breeds, fake papers, a white board with all the money made, all the puppies out back in separate rooms etc

But the sentencing cannot go over 2 years in prison max and I’ve never heard of that actually ever happening! But if it was drugs they were selling then it could be 20 odd years!

 

[Mad Murphy]

Years ago I remember a case where a womans dog was either stolen or killed by robbers and the insurence offered a pay out with 'depreciation value' because the dog was a bit older...As if the poor dog was an old tv or something.

 

[JudyN]

There's also the emotional distress to the dog (or other animal) of course - for many dogs, theft would amount to animal cruelty which has (or will, I think) a maximum sentence of 5 years. I say 'many dogs' because there are those that will happily adjust if treated with kindness. But if you're heartless enough to steal a pet you're unlikely to treat it with kindness.

As for puppy farmers - 5 years for each breeding dog/puppy up to a maximum of 100 years not served concurrently sounds about right.

 

[arealhuman]

Let's hope they have a sensible debate resulting in punishments fitting the crime for once.

 

[Dinky Dillon]

Lets hope just for once Parliament get it right and do the right thing.

One can only hope!