Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of (a) the increase in dog theft and (b) the introduction of harsher punishment for that crime.

There are no published figures on pet or dog theft. The theft of a pet is a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968 and carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment. The Sentencing Council’s guidelines on theft now take account of the emotional distress on the victim caused by any theft offence, including theft of a pet, meaning that the courts will now take this into account when considering the appropriate sentence.