This petition was submitted during the 2020-2024 Conservative government
Rejected petition Change the law for equalisation for animals to be treated fairly as humans would
We want the law changed so that any animal abuse/cruelty is equalised and for the prosecution to be higher and the sentencing to be increased.
More details
We believe the current laws that are in place are dreadful and want to get justice for any animal that have sustained serious abuse/cruelty or murder. Animals are not property to be classed as criminal damage when murdered as they are living beings with warm blood running through their veins, they should receive the justice from courts or prosecution service as a human would if they was murdered, they should get the same sentencing guidelines.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We understand that you are concerned about the way animal cruelty offences are currently dealt with, but we're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.
The Government is responsible for the legislation which defines animal cruelty and sets out the maximum sentences for these offences.
Decisions about investigating and prosecuting alleged crimes are a matter for the police and Crown Prosecution Service, not the Government or Parliament.
Sentencing guidelines are produced by the Sentencing Council, which is independent of the Government or Parliament.
We could accept a petition calling for the minimum and maximum sentences for all animal cruelty offences to be increased, if that's what you want to happen.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Make unlawfully killing a pet a specific offence with sentences equal to murder: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/624536
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.