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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making pet theft a specific crime.

Theft of a pet is already a criminal offence punishable by a penalty of up to 7 years imprisonment. In February 2016, the independent Sentencing Council updated its guidelines in relation to sentencing for theft offences. The guidelines take account of the emotional distress, and therefore harm, that the theft of a much beloved pet can have on the victim, and accordingly recommend higher penalties for such offences.