Animal Torture: Online Videos

Lord Watts Excerpts

Tuesday 27th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

I recognise the argument that increased cruelty to animals promotes further bad behaviour, including violence between humans, but I stress the point that the purpose of the Online Safety Bill is to bring into law a range of limitations on what can be published and what can be seen online by human beings. There are laws that effectively criminalise cruel behaviour to animals and the action of publishing evidence of cruelty to animals online; those laws just happen not to be the Online Safety Bill.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister says that the Government are against cruelty to animals, yet we have just heard that the present legislation does not stop it. Is it not the case that we need regulation that will prosecute and convict people involved in these practices? Can he tell us how many people have been prosecuted so far this year for animal cruelty?

[Viscount Camrose (Con)]

I have the numbers prosecuted for animal cruelty in my notes somewhere; I will happily write to the noble Lord.