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 it his policy to increase the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences to five years.

The Sentencing Council recently updated its guidelines for magistrates to ensure that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive longer sentences of up to the maximum of 6 months’ imprisonment.

The government continues to keep maximum penalties under review.