A bill to impose stiffer penalties for pet theft has become law, one of the last pieces of legislation to receive Royal Assent before the general election in July.
Under the Pet Abduction Act 2024, which was a Private Members’ Bill sponsored by Anna Firth MP and Lord Black of Brentwood and supported by the government, anyone found guilty of stealing a pet in England or Northern Ireland will face up to five years in prison, a fine, or both.
The new law is intended to recognise that cats and dogs are not inanimate objects but sentient beings capable of experiencing distress and other emotional trauma when they are stolen from their owners or keepers.
Evidence from the Pet Theft Taskforce suggests around 2,000 dog and over 400 cat theft crimes were reported to police in 2020, the government added.
