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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to help tackle animal beatings in Cambridgeshire.

Enforcement of animal welfare standards is primarily delivered through the powers available under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which makes it an offence to cause any animal unnecessary suffering or to fail to provide for its welfare.

The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021 amended the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to increase the sentences available to our courts for the most serious cases of animal cruelty. Anyone who is cruel to an animal face being sent to prison for up to five years, or receiving an unlimited fine, or both.

Local authorities have powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to intervene where an animal is suspected to be suffering on any land, public or private.