Henry Smith, the Conservative MP for Crawley and co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for animal welfare, said: ‘Viva!’s investigation contains some of the most disturbing images I have ever seen. It is clear the animals on this farm are suffering. If this is the Red Tractor standard, then consumers are being misled. We cannot allow farms like this to operate.’New paragraph

Michael Flower: I will start, if I may. It is important that sentencing is increased because the current maximum penalty does not reflect the serious offences that we see in the animal cruelty world. There is a huge upsurge in public opinion, which seems to want increased sentences. We have encountered comments from the judiciary in our prosecutions and they would also like to see higher penalties so that they could deal adequately with the types of offence that have been encountered.

For example, we would be looking for increased sentence in cases such as “man pours lighter fluid on a dog and sets it on fire” and “man puts kitten in microwave, switches it on and kills it”. We have had recent cases involving puppies being kicked to death. We had a recent case involving two men who wanted to kill a dog, with some reason to do so, but rather than take it to the vet, one chap hammered a nail into the dog’s head. Then they buried the dog, and the dog was still alive. I could go on, but I don’t think I need to. Some of the cases we are encountering are, frankly, awful.

Claire Horton: I endorse everything that my colleague has said. I think probably the most significant case that brought it home to me and really kicked this off was Baby the bulldog, which Ms Turley has fought for significantly. That is the most horrific example of animal cruelty: it was filmed on a mobile phone; people joked and laughed and deliberately sought to cause injury to that animal. The sentence that they got was a matter of weeks. The sentences are way too low given the scale that we see this happening: six months is the maximum, with a 20% reduction if a defendant pleads guilty. Battersea, as well as the RSPCA and other animal rescues around the country, sees almost on a daily basis animals coming in as victims of cruelty.



MIcheal Flower?


Earlier, I mentioned copycat behaviour, which worries me a lot, because of the issue of promoting responsible ownership as it relates to animal cruelty and not being cruel to animals. Inevitably, in those messages, we will be giving examples of animal cruelty and there will always be people who pick those messages up in the wrong way and go and do it. None the less, that does not stop us needing to be clear about this.

Ultimately, the biggest deterrents will be a much harsher sentence, a much more serious punishment and naming and shaming. One of the interesting things about the internet and some of the cases we have heard about is that when those perpetrators’ identities become public, life can get difficult for those people simply because of the public reaction. I make no comment on that, other than that it can clearly work in different ways when people or the issue are exposed.




Anna Turley

Q Thank you very much for your evidence so far. Could you share from your experience on the degree of consistency or inconsistency in what you see from the sentencing so far in such cases under the existing legislation? As a second part of that, could you talk about how, when lawyers are defending their clients, they seek to convince the court that their client should face a lesser sentence? What mitigating factors, or even aggravating factors that work against them, have you seen so far? I will start with Inspector O’Hara.

Inspector O'Hara: The majority of offences that I have seen prosecuted by the police are probably not cases that would hit the higher end of the sentencing bracket. They are largely cases involving an animal hoarder—generally somebody who has some mental health problems or another underlying reason for amassing 20 animals in a property. It is that sort of offence that we typically see day in, day out. At the last count, when I ran the figures for the EFRA Committee inquiry report a couple of years ago, broadly speaking—this is from memory—around 85% of the prosecutions were done by the RSPCA and about 15% by police or local authorities, with the burden of that shared by the police.

That typically tends to be my experience. We have not had any tail-docking cases that I can think of in London, but we have ear-cropping mutilations and general animal cruelty rather than organised crime or that more serious end of it. All those cases have been dealt with in a magistrates court so far, but the sentencing in London is fairly consistent because all those cases go to one court, although elsewhere in the country it is probably not so. Most of those cases are dealt with by way of a fine or other ancillary orders rather than imprisonment.


Anna Turley

Q What proportion of the cases that you have seen have pushed the envelope and outstripped the existing sentencing bracket?

Inspector O'Hara: It is a very small number.





Note the differences in what cases the RSPCA and the police put forward ,, RSPCA talk utter crap and pick worst case scenario, whilst the police are actually more honest about the kinds of cases they deal with most often .... Surely the RSPCA should be saying this kind of crime is however very rare, like they used to do at the end of crimewatch instead of implying this kind of crime is the norm ....


Defences

The defendant cannot be forced to give evidence and can choose whether to do so or not. A defendant who decides to give evidence does so by going into the witness box, taking the oath (or affirming) and answering any questions asked first by the defendant's lawyer and then by the prosecutor in cross-examination. The defendant may also call witnesses who are able to give evidence relevant to the defence.

There are a number of different defences available to a defendant and common defences are discussed below.

If appropriate, a defendant may rely on more than one defence as alternative defences, but must be careful not to prejudice a good defence by throwing in weaker or conflicting ones.

Reasonable Doubt

In addition to other defences the defendant may attempt to raise doubts in the prosecution case.

The defence will attempt to demonstrate any inconsistencies and shortcomings in the prosecution case.

Where all the elements which make up the offence are not proved beyond reasonable doubt on the evidence presented, the defence is entitled to submit that the prosecution has not proved its case. If this is accepted the defendant will be found not guilty. 


Part of the answer.

Powers are available under existing legislation to tackle anyone who commits cruelty on an animal. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, local authorities and police have powers to investigate complaints about poor welfare or animal cruelty. In addition, the RSPCA can also investigate such complaints. Animal charities carry out valuable work to ensure that the health and welfare needs of sick, abandoned and stray animals in their care continue to be met.
For a start, let us remind ourselves that the RSPCA was created 189 years ago by a Conservative MP—a pro-hunting Conservative MP, I should say—called Richard Martin. He said:

“It would be ill judged for it”—

the RSPCA—

“to become known as a prosecuting society and the prime aim should be to alter the moral feelings of the country.”


Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
I should like to say, as a member of the Committee that considered the Animal Welfare Bill in 2006, that when we make legislation we want it to be enforced. Does the hon. Lady agree that there is no point designing legislation and ensuring that it is workable and enforceable if it is not enforced?

Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
Rather than worrying about whether the RSPCA is misusing its funds in bringing the prosecution, should we not as taxpayers be criticising the CPS for not being prepared to spend its funding on bringing fox-hunting prosecutions?


Emily Thornberry
That is absolutely right, and it is right that if, to use the H-word again, it is illegal to hunt in this country and people are hunting, there are prosecutions to stop that so that people understand that the law is serious. If we simply pass laws and do not enforce them, that radically undermines our constitution. In those circumstances, it seems to me that the RSPCA should be applauded.



Read attorney generals speech!
Role of the RSPCA
Paragraph 167: We recommend that the Government look at amending current legislation to make the RSPCA a Specialist Reporting Authority.

In the light of public criticisms of its role, the RSPCA set up the Wooler Review, which made 33 recommendations which the RSPCA have already assessed and considered for action. These include a review of their approach to the gathering and presentation of veterinary evidence and the way they handle complaints and prosecutions on possible conflicts of interest. The Senior Wildlife Champion from the CPS will also sit on the RSPCA independent oversight panel which starts its work this month (January). The Champion works closely with Wildlife Coordinators in the CPS Areas.

The CPS continues to play an active role in wildlife protection and the prosecution of animal welfare cases referred by the Police. As suggested in paragraph 166, were the CPS to take on all RSPCA cases, further consideration would need to be given to resource. Resources alone however, are never a bar to prosecution. If a case passes the two stage test for prosecution used by the CPS (i.e.is there sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if so, is a prosecution is needed in the public interest) a prosecution will take place.

In respect of the Committee’s recommendation, the Government considers that the 2006 Act should not restrict the possibility of someone taking out private prosecutions under the Act. This has been a powerful tool to promote animal welfare.

It is for this reason that the Government does not consider, at this time, that the RSPCA should be made a specialist reporting authority. Instead we believe that the RSPCA should be given the opportunity to implement the recommendations of the Wooler Review and demonstrate its commitment to responding to the concerns that have been raised by the Committee.