Ministers are expected to back an MP’s bid to make the stealing of cats and dogs a specific criminal offence.
Tory backbencher Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, will today continue her campaign to get her Pet Abduction Bill passed into law.
It is aimed at making it a crime to take or detain a dog or a cat from the lawful control of any person.
Under the legislation, anyone convicted of the offence could face a fine or a maximum of five years in prison.
Ms Firth is concerned that, as the law currently stands, pet theft is treated the same as any other loss of an owner’s property.
By changing the law, Ms Firth wants to give police forces a greater ability to monitor pet theft in their areas by distinguishing it from other types of theft.
She also hopes it will see courts impose harsher sentences for those abducting beloved family pets than they would for other types of theft.
Ms Firth warned low prosecution rates meant stealing a cat or dog had become a ‘low-risk, high-reward crime’.
Tory backbencher Anna Firth, MP for Southend West, is continuing her campaign to get her Pet Abduction Bill passed into law
The Bill is aimed at making it a crime to take or detain a dog or a cat from the lawful control of any person
The Government is reportedly ‘very sympathetic’ to Ms Firth’s plan ahead of her Bill’s Second Reading in the House of Commons
Alarming data showed an estimated 2,160 dogs were reported stolen in 2022 – around six each day.
Research by Direct Line Pet Insurance also showed only one in four stolen dogs was found and returned.
There was a surge in reported pet thefts during the Covid crisis, as criminals sought to profit from a spike in demand for pets during lockdowns.
According to the BBC, the Government is ‘very sympathetic’ to Ms Firth’s plan ahead of her Bill’s Second Reading in the House of Commons.
The Southend West MP said: ‘I just find it unbelievable that we treat the loss of a living creature, a member of our family, as if it is a power tool or a laptop.’
Ms Firth has introduced her Bill as a Private Members’ Bill, a mechanism which allows laws to be introduced to the Commons by backbenchers and not ministers.
Such Bills rarely become law unless they receive the Government’s backing.
In an article on her website, Ms Firth explained how she thought her Bill would help tackle pet theft.
She wrote: ‘As the law currently stands, the theft of a pet is treated as the equivalent to the theft of an item or a piece of property.
‘It’s a crime, but it doesn’t have a “unique identifier in crime datasets”, which means it can’t be monitored or distinguished from other types of theft.
‘The other issue is when a pet thief comes to be sentenced by the courts.
‘At the moment the sentence reflects the value of the “item” stolen, but how do you put a true value on a beloved pet?
‘And shouldn’t the trauma on the animal in question be taken into consideration too when considering sentencing a criminal who’s caused the pet and owner so much distress?’
She added: ‘The purpose of my Bill is to make pet abduction a specific offence.
‘I also want to ensure that the Government is equipped with the data to tackle criminal activity by establishing a mechanism for pet abduction cases to be distinguished from general property theft within the justice system.’
The Government previously pledged to make pet abduction a specific criminal offence, but no such legislation has been passed.
Measures were included in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill but this was dropped by ministers in May last year to a backlash from campaigners.