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On this day in vegan history · June 29, 2021

Animal Cruelty in England and Wales Can Finally Mean Five Years

For decades a dog fighter or a farmer who starved his herd faced the same maximum six months as a shoplifter; a law named for a stabbed police dog finally changed that.

The facts

In force
29 June 2021 (Royal Assent 29 April 2021)
Old maximum
Six months' imprisonment
New maximum
Five years' imprisonment, plus unlimited fines
Jurisdiction
England and Wales

On 29 June 2021, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 came into force in England and Wales, raising the maximum prison sentence for the worst animal cruelty offences from six months to five years, alongside unlimited fines. The Act had received Royal Assent two months earlier, on 29 April 2021, after years of campaigning that gathered pace following cases like the 2016 stabbing of police dog Finn, whose handler was denied a prosecution because the law at the time treated the attack as mere criminal damage to property. The new maximum covers offences such as dog fighting, illegal ear cropping, and severe neglect of farm animals, closing a gap campaigners said let some of the cruellest abusers walk away with penalties that fit a parking ticket more than a crime against a living thing.

In their words

The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.

  1. I started this journey four-and-a-half years ago to right a wrong, to ensure that our amazing service animals had the protection they deserved whilst serving our communities. I am absolutely over the moon that today sees the final piece of the #FinnsLaw project put into place with a new five-year maximum sentence for those who attack our service animals, or who commit cruelty or neglect upon any of this nation's animals.

    PC David Wardell, handler of police dog Finn, 29 June 2021

    Source: GOV.UK

  2. This law is a huge step forward for animal welfare in the UK and we're delighted that justice will now be served for animals. Tougher sentences will act as a stronger deterrent to potential animal abusers and will help us in our aim to stamp out animal cruelty once and for all.

    Chris Sherwood, RSPCA Chief Executive, 29 June 2021

    Source: GOV.UK

Why it still matters

It gave courts in England and Wales a sentence that could actually match the crime, and it started as a campaign for one stabbed police dog before widening into a rule that protects every animal, not just the ones with a badge.

Sources

This history is still being written.

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