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Written question asked by Lord McCabe (Labour) on Thursday, 9 February 2017, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 20 February 2017. It was answered by George Eustice (Conservative) on Friday, 24 February 2017 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dog Fighting

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide additional financial and other resources to the police to assist them in tackling the practice of dog fighting.

Answer

The Government has provided the police with a range of powers to tackle dog fighting effectively. Offences cover organising, advertising and taking monies relating to animal fights as well as the possession of equipment used to train dogs for dog fighting.

In addition, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 makes it an offence to possess certain types of dog that have been identified as bred for fighting or that are similar to types bred for fighting. The police work with the Special Operations Unit of the RSPCA to target illegal dog fighting rings by gathering intelligence and prosecuting those that are involved in dog fighting.

The police have not asked for additional funding to tackle dog fighting. The maximum penalties for animal welfare offences are kept under regular review. The Sentencing Council has very recently published revised magistrates’ court sentencing guidelines, including those in relation to dog fighting, with the aim of ensuring that the most serious cases of animal cruelty receive appropriately severe penalties within the available maximum penalty.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
63941
Session
2016-17
Grouped for answer
Yes
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Finance Police Dog fighting
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk