Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Theft Act 1968 on deterring the theft of pets.

Under the Theft Act 1968, the maximum penalty for the theft of a pet is 7 years’ imprisonment.

The Sentencing Council updated its guidelines in relation to sentencing for theft offences in February 2016.

The guidelines take account of the emotional distress and therefore harm that theft of personal items such as a pet can have on the victim and accordingly recommends higher penalties for such offences.

Since 6 April 2016, all dogs in England and Wales must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are eight weeks old. In addition to reuniting lost or stolen dogs with their owners, this will also help to reduce the numbers of strays that have to be kennelled and re-homed by local authorities and dog re-homing charities.