Thank you to constituents who have got in touch
with me about the proposals being put forward by the government to increase
maximum sentences for animal cruelty from 6 months to 5 years in England and
Wales.
They told me that they “welcome the commitment by
the government to pass legislation to increase the maximum sentence for animal
cruelty from 6 months to 5 years” and ask if I would support the passage of
this legislation and work to ensure that its passage prioritised.
I am pleased to inform constituents that I will be
giving the Government my backing on this matter and I will be seeking to speak
to ministers about prioritising the passage of the legislation.
I welcome the strong commitments to improving
Animal Welfare as set out in the Queen’s Speech in December. In addition to
introducing tougher sentences for perpetrators of animal cruelty, the
government is also committed to consulting on improving the welfare of live
animal transport and to banning the keeping of monkeys as pets and the import
and export of hunting trophies.
