Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation supports Kevin Foster MP’s ‘Animal Fighting (Sentencing) Bill 2016-17 which will strengthen the penalties against people who organise dog fighting.
We proposed stronger sentencing for animal cruelty in our animal welfare document which we presented to No10 in January this year with our Patron Sir Roger Gale MP.
Lorraine Platt, Co- Founder of Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation commented: ‘The current maximum sentence of six months imprisonment for animal cruelty in England and Wales is outmoded. It’s time to increase penalties for the horrific brutal cruel activity of dog fighting.’
Animal Fighting( Sentencing) Bill 2016-17
The aim of the Bill is to bring the sentencing powers available to the courts for those convicted of animal fighting offences in line with the sentences in the devolved administration of Northern Ireland.
At present, those convicted of an animal fighting offence in England can be sentenced to a maximum of 6 months in prison and/or a £20,000 fine, whereas those convicted in Northern Ireland can be sentenced to 5 years and/or a £20,000 fine.
The Bill has already had its first reading on 4th July, with the second reading due on 24th February 2017.
Anna Turley MP’s Bill’ Animal Cruelty ( Sentencing) Bill 2016-17 is also due to have its second reading on the 24th February.
We are also grateful to Kevin Foster MP for his Bill below, which is due to have its 2nd reading on the same day.
Wild Animals in Circuses (Prohibition) Bill 2016-17
Lorraine Platt, Co-Founder, The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation: “The Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation urge the Conservative party to seize the opportunity to demonstrate our continued commitment to animal welfare. The time has come to act and ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses and consign it to the history books without further delay.
The aim of the Bill is to make it illegal for circus operators to use ‘wild’ animals in the course of their circus show, with ‘wild’ being defined as any animal that is not commonly domesticated within Great Britain.
This Bill is very similar to one that was put forward in the 2015-16 session – more information on that prior Bill can be found here. Due to time constraints, this Bill did not get past the first reading.
Kevin’s Bill has already had its first reading on 4th July 2016, with the second reading due on 24th February 2017.
Read Animal Defenders International’s media release on the animal circus ban:http://www.ad-international.org/media_centre/go.php?id=4310&si=12
