Short, or often no, jail terms are common when it comes to animal abusers. OneKind believes that animal cruelty sentences need to be tightened, and that therapeutic programmes should be introduced for offenders to prevent further acts of cruelty.
What is the problem?
Short, or often no, jail terms are the norm when it comes to animal abusers. It is easy for the maximum sentence of 12 months to be reduced to only a couple of months. This is because an early guilty plea reduces the sentence by one-third, and 50% of the sentence may be spent at home with a tag [1]. Alternatives are no better, with the average fine for animal abuse being £139, and the average number of days of community service being 3.2 [2]. Finally, less than half of animal cruelty convictions in Scottish courts result in disqualifications from keeping animals [3].
Animal cruelty sentences often do not reflect the nature of the crime. There have been many instances where horrific levels of cruelty are inflected on an animal, with very little repercussion to the perpetrator. For example, in a case when a dog was tied to a tree, doused in petrol, and burned to death, the offender was sentenced to nine months in prison. Whilst this is a significant sentence compared to other cases, it does not accurately reflect a crime described by the Kirkcaldy sheriff as a “grotesque act of savagery”. Indeed, the owners of the dog called the sentence “a joke” given that “he tortured and murdered a family pet simply because he bit his finger” [4].
Another problem with animal cruelty sentences is that there are no therapeutic, educational or anger management programmes on offer for offenders. This often makes it difficult for the Court to sentence offenders. For example, two men who killed two geckos by placing them in a blender were suggested to contact the SPCA to make amends for their actions. However, the Scottish SPCA could not facilitate this because of the cruelty they had imposed [5]. This highlights the need for alternatives, perhaps something similar to current domestic violence initiatives. In such programs, individuals would learn to be emphatic towards animals. A similar program is offered in the US called AniCare, an intervention programme that aims to prevent animal abusers from reoffending [6].
The solution
OneKind is calling for:
1) Tougher Sentences
Under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, the maximum sentences are currently up to 12 months, a £20,000 fine, or both. OneKind recommends that the maximum penalty be increased to five years in prison. This would bring Scotland in line with Northern Island, Canada, Australia and New Zealand [7]. For lesser offences, OneKind supports the use of fixed penalty notices. These would allow local authorities to enforce such lesser offences without the time and resources of taking the case to court.
2) Therapeutic prevention programmes
OneKind is calling on the Scottish Government to introduce therapeutic programmes for offenders that can be used as an alternative or in addition to jail time. These could follow the example of similar initiatives for domestic violence programmes and focus on rehabilitating offenders so that they respect and empathise with animals.
Such programmes could be extremely effective in preventing cruelty, thus protecting animals and reducing the burden on Courts. In a study on college students, attitudes towards the treatment of animals was correlated with empathy [8]. This suggests that if offenders can be taught to empathise, they may treat animals in a more positive way. If such a program could achieve this, and if this was coupled with an automatic disqualification from keeping animals for life in serious cases, this would represent a significant improvement in the way that the court system protects animals.
References
[2] From OneKind’s Review of AHW(S) Act 2006
[3] From OneKind’s Review of AHW(S) Act 2006
[4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-28366406
[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-40567885
[7] http://politicalanimal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sentencingbriefing-1.pdf
[8] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/089279306785593847?journalCode=rfan20