Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pet owners (a) have been convicted of and (b) served prison sentences for offences against their pets under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the last two years.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions, convictions and sentence outcomes in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023 including offences as set out in the Offence Group Classification. The total number of individuals convicted and sentence outcomes for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, can be obtained by selecting the following HO codes: 10829, 10830, 10831, 10832, 10833, 10834, 10835, 10836, 10837, 10838, 10839, 09701, 09702, 09703, 09704, 09705.

However, whether the offence was committed by a pet owner against their pet is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.