10 May 2023
A leading welfare charity has welcomed the guidance, which has been developed after the maximum sentence was increased to five years in prison in 2021.
Allister Webb
Job Title
New guidelines for courts considering animal cruelty offences have been published by the Sentencing Council today (10 May).
The measures, which follow a law change to increase maximum penalties, have been hailed a “landmark” by a leading charity for formally recognising cruelty in the sentencing process for the first time.
The main changes, which will be implemented from 1 July, relate to punishments for offences in areas such as causing unnecessary suffering, mutilation, administering poisons and fighting.
For the most serious cases, the guidance suggests a range of potential sentences from six months to three-and-a-half years in prison.
The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 increased the maximum available penalty from six months in jail to five years.
The guidance says the category of offence should be determined by considering both the culpability of the offender and the harm caused to the animals involved.
Factors indicating high culpability would include repeated incidents, use of “very significant” force, and the coercion or intimidation of others to become involved.
Considerations of harm are divided into three categories, with the most serious category 1 referring to cases that caused either death, grave or life-threatening injury, or very high levels of pain and suffering.
The second category of harm would cover cases with “a substantial and/or lasting effect” on animals, including cases of ear cropping, tail docking and similar mutilations.
Cases in the second category have a suggested sentencing range of 18 weeks to a year in jail, where high culpability is established.
The number of animals involved in specific cases, together with the level of intervention required to enable recovery can also be considered as aggravating factors.
Council member Judge Rosa Dean said: “Animal cruelty is a serious offence and animals can experience untold suffering at the hands of people who they trust to look after them, including being left in appalling conditions or forced to fight each other for money.
“The new guidelines will guarantee that courts have the powers to deliver appropriate sentences to offenders who mistreat animals.”
RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood added: “We welcome the Sentencing Council updated guidance as it gives judges and magistrates clarity, and clearly recognises animal cruelty in the guidance for the first time in what is a landmark moment.”
The charity was among a number of welfare organisations who had previously responded to a consultation on the new guidelines.
