Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:36 pm on 10 July 2019.

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Photo of Adrian Bailey Adrian Bailey Labour/Co-operative, West Bromwich West 1:36, 10 July 2019

The Bill is hugely welcome. However, I am concerned about the narrowness of its scope, and my investigations have not been able to satisfy me that there are no potential areas of obscurity in it. Given that the Bill applies to domestic animals and not to wild animals, what is the situation in regard to, say, feral cats? Would somebody who did harm to their neighbour’s cat be subject to a different maximum sentence from somebody who did harm to a cat that was effectively feral and unattached?