13/03/2025
Pet Thieft is heartbreaking! It’s now a crime!
The 13th annual is nearly upon us (March 14th to 21st).
Please tell your pet owning friends, pet businesses, and relevant animal organisations who can then share the awareness posts or create own pet theft content.
PET ABDUCTION is finally a crime but this doesn't mean you can be complacent.
There are still pets being ABDUCTED every day. It's not just cats and dogs; hens, horses, ducks, parrots, lizards, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even zoo animals get stolen. Even fish from ponds are targeted by thieves. Farm animal theft is a huge issue. It is devastating. It ruins lives.
There are plenty of people who have no idea that pets are being stolen. Let them know!
We still see dogs tethered outside shops and we hear of people 'acquiring' a cat.
Help us make others aware.
After over a decade of campaigning the government stepped up and finally pets were legally different from lawnmowers and televisions!
What is the Pet Abduction Act 2024?
The Act comprises two separate offences: Dog Abduction and Cat Abduction. It is a criminal offence to "take" and "detain" a dog however, only the 'taking' of a cat will fall within the scope of the Act. This is to reflect the different lifestyle and freedoms that our family cats enjoy, leaving them to continue to roam and 'drop in' to neighbours' gardens and houses without triggering the offence.
Neither of these offences will apply if the cat or dog has lived with the accused.
The offence allows the provision of 'reasonable excuse'. This might include someone who can show that they had 'lawful authority' or being concerned that a cat or dog has become displaced from its home or is looking in need of veterinary treatment or care. (It is worth noting that in such instances there should be a reasonable expectation of evidence that veterinary care had been sought and the dog or cat had been scanned for a microchip.
We are pleased that this new offence will enable the courts to send those convicted of 'Pet Abduction to prison for up to 5 years and/or to issue a fine. This new legislation will help provide a significant deterrent to dog and cat thieves and will oblige police forces across England and Northern Ireland to record pet theft data with a new identifying code, ensuring that we can at least start collecting meaningful data and build a more accurate picture as to the scale and nature of cat and dog theft.
This legislation does not extend to Scotland and Wales so we will be lobbying the Scottish parliament and the Welsh Assembly to introduce a similar Pet Abduction law to include family cats too. when stolen.
