Rejected petition Recognise animals as sentient, increase penalties, and count each harmed animal.

Change UK law to recognise dogs/cats and all other animals as sentient, increase penalties for serious cruelty, and treat each harmed animal, alive or deceased, as a separate victim so sentences reflect the full scale of harm.

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UK law treats dogs as property and only counts survivors. The 2022 Sentience Act isn’t applied in criminal law. Each harmed cat/dog or animal, living or deceased, must be recognised as a separate victim, with stronger penalties, longer prison sentences, and mandatory bans on ownership to reflect the scale of harm, prevent future cruelty, ensure all victims are accounted for, align UK law with international standards for animal protection, stop large-scale abuse, and protect all companion animals

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

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Dogs and cats are already considered sentient beings: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-sentience-committee-impact-of-definitions-of-animals-in-law/animal-sentience-committee-welfare-implications-of-legislative-differences-in-the-definition-of-animals

There are open petitions calling for similar action to that which this petition is calling for, and which you may wish to sign:

'Change laws regarding abuse of multiple animals'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/738567
'Fund a new government-backed animal cruelty policing unit'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/755755
'Create a national database of convicted animal abusers'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/756424
'Stronger penalties for animal cruelty and stricter regulations on animal sales'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/740729
'Introduce custodial minimum sentences for animal cruelty offences'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/743142
'Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership'
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/759783

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 21 February 2026
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