Harrogate animal charity backs calls for harsher sentences for abusers
Harrogate Cat Rescue regularly have to rehabilitate animals which have been abused
A cat rescue charity in Harrogate is backing a Bill to impose harsher sentences on people who cause abuse animals.
Staff and volunteers at Harrogate Cat Rescue regularly have to rehabilitate and foster distressed animals after being physically and mentally abused by previous owners.
The current sentence for anyone found guilty of animal cruelty is an unlimited fine or six months imprisonment.
But Celia Dakin who runs the rescue said this is "insufficient" and "immoral".
She said: "The maximum term now is insufficient. Sometimes animals are classed as second class citizens in this country and we have to be their voice. Prison sentences and punishment should fit what they're doing to an animal which can't speak for itself.
"It doesn't always have to be physical abuse. I rescued twelve cats from a property in Bradford and I have no idea what they witnessed. They weren't physically touched but the violence they witnessed between humans and the lack of stimulation they'd had, as they were in a tiny room in a tiny flat, had taken a toll on them and that sort of abuse is difficult to prosecute as there is nothing to prove.
"I'm picking up a cat later this week who has been burned. I haven't seen him yet but I've been told all of his side has been burned. Any human he just runs and hides as he's that scared. Him being burned was to make him the cat that he is now; petrified of humans.
"I've had to find a specialist foster carer for that boy and he will thrive in her care but it will take a long time."
In February 2020, The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill 2019-21, was reintroduced as a Private Members’ Bill, sponsored by Conservative Member Chris Loder, with Government support.
It will be heard in the House of Lords today, where it's expected to pass and be given Royal Assent by the Queen.
The Bill, which completed its passage through the House of Commons in March, increases the maximum penalty for certain offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 tenfold, from six months to up to five years.
Mr Loder said: “We are just a couple of steps away before Her Majesty The Queen gives her Royal Assent for my Bill to become law and to get justice for animals through tougher sentencing for animal cruelty.”
The MP, who is a fourth-generation farmer’s son and an advocate of high animal welfare, is determined to change the law within weeks. It is a race-against-time to get the Bill to be signed into law before the Queen’s Speech, which is expected on May 11th.
Harrogate Cat Rescue are appealing for more people to foster cats in their care. You can find out more about how to foster here.