Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of trends in the level of pet theft since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.

We recognise the distress pet theft causes and are committed to doing more to prevent these cruel crimes. The Government has been assembling evidence on pet theft as part of the work of the Pet Theft Taskforce, launched 8 May, and this will be published in due course.

The Taskforce is considering the issue from end to end, including causes, prevention, reporting, enforcement and prosecution.