Andrew Rosindell’s Animal Bill reaches the next step to becoming law.

The third and final reading of Andrew Rosindell’s Animal (Penalty Notices) Bill was heard by the Commons on Friday 4th February and passed with no amendments and without the need for division. 

The Animal (Penalty Notices) Bill aims to make provision for and in connection with the giving of penalty notices for certain offences in relation to animals and animal products. 

Individuals who commit offences against animals will face fines of up to £5,000 under the new legislation introduced to the House by the Romford M.P. using a Private Members Bill. 

The fines will be introduced to ensure that offenders face tougher penalties for crimes in addition to the existing maximum 5 year prison sentence for the most serious offences.

The Animals (Penalty Notices) Bill, a Private Members’ Bill introduced by Andrew Rosindell M.P. and which is backed by the Government, will create a system of financial penalties of up to £5,000 for animal health and welfare offences. The penalties, which could include on-the-spot fines, can be issued to individuals who have cruelly mistreated pets, zoo animals and livestock.

Andrew Rosindell M.P. who sponsored the Bill said: 

“It is clear to see, that we are truly a nation united by our love of animals and that my Bill has attracted strong support from all parties and from animal welfare organisations across the country.

This Bill will make a real difference to the lives of animals and help promote a greater understanding of welfare. 

It will directly benefit the health and welfare of this country’s farmed and kept animals, and also increase accountability when our country’s biosecurity is put at risk. 

Furthermore, the Bill introduces enabling powers, so we can then apply penalty notices to the appropriate offences. 

My Bill establishes the framework, crucial to introducing these penalties, through statutory instruments.

Penalty notices will bolster our existing enforcement measures, and give enforcement authorities more options to influence positive behaviour when it comes to caring for our farmed and kept animals, including companion animals and zoo animals.

I am therefore looking forward to my Bill passing through the House of Lords and then receiving Royal Assent from Her Majesty The Queen.

We have a duty of care to the animals we are privileged to live alongside, as household pets, wild animals, farm animals and indeed, all the creatures of land, sea and sky.

My dearly missed friend and our departed colleague, Sir David Amess, shared this view and it is an honour that I am able to carry on his animal welfare legacy and stance which never changed, throughout his 38 years in Parliament. 

I especially remember him, as we carry on the fight to defend and protect animals throughout our United Kingdom, his tireless campaigning inspired many others to continue to fight for strengthened protection for our animals.

My own dogs, were Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Spike and Buster, who were the best companions anyone could have wished for and campaigned with me in every General Election, sporting their famous Union Jack waste coats!

As we love our country, we also love our animals. 

From my own personal experience, speaking to constituents, and working closely with animal welfare charities, I know the joy that animals can bring and protecting animals is something that should unite us all.”