Your View: Animal cruelty
'I am dismayed, as always, by the leniency of the sentences for cruelty to animals'
Mike Maas
Rivelin
S6
The RSPCA's quarterly journal always features two pages of court reports. I am dismayed, as always, by the leniency of the sentences for cruelty to animals. Magistrates will say 'But you don't know the details of the case', but their leniency is consistent. I think their fundamental belief is that animal-suffering is unimportant.
In the latest journal we had:Â Cats suffering in squalor: 10-year ban on keeping any animals and no prison;Â Dead and dying exotic animals in 'horrific conditions': lifelong ban on keeping any animal; 40 hours' Rehabilitation Activity Requirement; 12 weeks prison but suspended for a year, i.e. behave for a year and you escape prison;Â Newfoundland dogs left to starve: 5-year ban on dog-keeping only; 4 months prison but suspended for a year.
Admittedly, magistrates work with feeble legislation: our MPs , also, disgracefully, think  animal-suffering is unimportant. It is a welcome improvement that Mr. Gove announced last year that the maximum prison-sentence was to be raised from one year to five.