Written by: Amy Crossley, PNLD Legal Adviser
Not reviewed after the date of publication - 25 June 2024
The Pet Abduction Act 2024 was published in May 2024 making the abduction of dogs and cats a specific criminal offence. PNLD Legal Adviser Amy Crossley takes a closer look at the new legislation and offences, as well as examining the current law in this area.
Pet thefts
In response to public concerns regarding the growing numbers of ‘pet thefts’ during the COVID 19 pandemic, the government launched the ‘Pet Theft Taskforce’ to investigate the reported rise in pet theft. The government website states that:
“Evidence from the Pet Theft Taskforce suggests around 2,000 dog and over 400 cat theft crimes were reported to police in 2020, causing considerable distress for owners and their pets alike. With an estimated 28% of UK adults owning a dog and 24% owning a cat, pet theft is a major concern to the public.”
Following the recommendations by the Pet Theft Taskforce, the government responded by introducing the Pet Abduction Act 2024. The Act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024 and introduces new criminal offences relating to the abduction of dogs and cats. It also provides a power for further offences to be made relating to the abduction of other animals ‘commonly kept as pets’.
The government say that the new law “recognises 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.”
The new offences can only be committed in England but territorially extend to England and Wales. They come into force on 24 August 2024.
The current law
Theft
Currently, the theft of animals is an offence under section 1 of the Theft Act 1968 whereby it must be proved that a person dishonestly appropriated property belonging to another with the intention to permanently deprive the other of it. Animals are considered to be property under section 4(4) of the Act which provides that ‘wild creatures, tamed or untamed…’ shall be regarded as property. All elements of the offence must be made out for a theft to be proved and it is important to note that the intent of the individual must be to permanently deprive the owner of the property.
Welfare Offences
Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 provides for offences relating to the causing of unnecessary suffering to animals. In this context, ‘suffering’ means any physical or mental suffering as per section 62.
This offence may be relevant to consider when dealing with cases involving the stealing of pets.
Stray Dogs
Section 150 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out what an individual must do when they find and take possession of a stray dog. Subsection (1) states that the individual must either return the dog to its owner or take the dog to the officer of the local authority for the area in which the dog was found, also informing the officer where the dog was found. Where an individual keeps a dog they have found, subsection (3) stipulates that they must not keep it for less than 1 month. It is an offence under subsection (5) for an individual to fail to comply with the requirements in (1) and (3).
The Pet Abduction Act 2024
Dog Abduction
Section 1 of the Pet Abduction Act 2024 stipulates that an individual commits ‘dog abduction’ where they either;
(a) take a dog so as to remove it from the lawful control of any person, or
(b) detain a dog so as to keep it from the lawful control of any person who is entitled to have lawful control of it.
The individual and the dog must both be in England at the time in which the dog was taken or detained.
In this context, ‘taking’ a dog includes causing or inducing a dog to accompany them or anyone else and causing the dog to be taken. ‘Detaining’ a dog includes causing or inducing the dog to remain with them or another person or causing the dog to be detained (see section 1(8)).
Section 1(2) states that the offence in subsection (1) is not committed if:
(a) at any time before the taking or detention of the dog
(i) the person (A) who took or detained the dog,
(ii) the person (B) from whose lawful control it was taken or detained, and
(iii) the dog,
all lived together in the same household,
(b) A and B had been living together before the dog began to live with them,
(c) A and B subsequently ceased to live together, and
(d) A took or detained the dog at or after the time when A and B ceased to live together.
The inclusion of this subsection essentially disapplies the offence where disputes in domestic situations between families or joint owners of dogs arise and keeps the focus of the offence on genuine criminality relating to pet thefts.
Subsection (3) provides a defence for a person charged with committing the offence for them to show that they had lawful authority or a reasonable excuse for taking or detaining the dog. There is currently no guidance in this area but in the view of PNLD, some potential examples of this defence in practice would include where an individual can show they have permission from the dog’s owner to take or detain the dog or, where they have taken or detained the dog to prevent it from coming to harm.
Subsection (4) provides a defence for a person charged to show that they believed the dog was a stray dog, took all reasonable steps to comply with section 150(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and they did not detain the dog for more than 96 hours.
The defendant is under an evidential burden under section 1(6) to prove either of the defences in subsections (3) or (4) where they are raised. Where sufficient evidence is raised by a defendant then the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the defence raised is not true.
Cat Abduction
Section 2 of the Act provides that abduction of a cat is an offence where it can be shown that an individual took a cat so as to remove it from the lawful control of any person. As with section 1, the individual accused and the cat must both in England at the time of the offence. This offence differs from the offence of dog abduction in that there is not provision for ‘detaining’ a cat, it is only an offence under section 2 for an individual to ‘take’ a cat.
In this context, ‘taking’ a cat included causing or inducing the cat to accompany them or another person or causing the cat to be taken (section 2(6)).
Subsection (2) mirrors that in section 1(2) applicable to dogs and similarly provides that the offence is not committed where the parties involved and the cat lived together in the same household.
It is also a defence under subsection (3) for the person charged to show that they had lawful authority or reasonable excuse for taking the cat.
Penalty on conviction
Both of the above offences are triable either way, punishable on summary conviction to imprisonment to a term not exceeding the general limit in the magistrates court and a fine or both. On indictment a maximum term of up to 5 years imprisonment may be imposed, a fine or both.
Provision for further offences
Section 3 of the Act provides a power for the Secretary of State to create further abduction offences in relation to other species of animals commonly kept as pets, where there is evidence to show an increase in the number of incidents involving the taking or detaining of animals in that particular species. For this purpose, section 3 conveys a power on the Secretary of State to issue further regulations to amend the Pet Abduction Act 2024. This open-ended power means the Secretary of State may respond quicker to other national trends or incidents of theft which may occur in the future.
Summary
In contrast to the core offence of theft under the Theft Act 1968, the new offences introduced by the Act do not require the prosecution to prove an intention to permanently deprive the other of the pet, it is sufficient to prove that the dog or cat was taken or detained by the individual.
In introducing the specific offences of dog and cat abduction, the intention is to make the recording and monitoring of pet theft offence statistics easier. Authorities and law enforcement agencies will now have a specific crime to record when this type of incident occurs and organisations across England will have a consistent approach to the recording of dog and cat abductions. Additionally, it is intended that the specific pet abduction offences will ensure that the impact of theft on animals and their owners is adequately addressed, as cats and dogs will no longer be viewed merely as items as property, as dictated by thefts dealt with under the Theft Act 1968.
The legislation and offences come into force on 24 August 2024 and will be available for review on PNLD in the near future.
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